Five-time Olympian Eddie Ockenden has been appointed as the new Head Hockey Coach for the Tasmanian Institute of Sport.
Australia’s most-capped player said he was delighted and proud to extend a partnership lasting more than a quarter of a century having been a TIS scholarship holder from 2000 until his retirement in 2024.
The 38-year-old father-of-three returned to his home state a year ago and sees the appointment as a golden opportunity to continue Tasmania’s proud hockey heritage.
“It’s a great hockey program and I’m very excited to lead it,” he said.
“I really like the opportunity to develop young players and like the pathways that we have here. The best coaches I had understood where people were at and what they needed to improve and I will try and take on a lot of that and impart some of my learnings.”
Ockenden’s record-breaking achievements for the Kookaburras include Olympic Games in 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 plus victories at all four of his Commonwealth Games (2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022) as well as two World Cups (2010 and 2014), two World Leagues (2015 and 2017), one Pro League (2019) and seven Champions Trophies (2008-12, 2016 and 2018).
He surpassed Jamie Dwyer’s record of 365 matches in 2020 and retired as the most-capped player in Australian hockey history, with 451 international appearances (78 goals) over 18 years.
He was selected as a flag-bearer at his last Olympic and Commonwealth Games in Paris and Birmingham respectively.
The product of Hobart’s North West Grads club had been assisting TIS Head Hockey Coach Tim Strapp who has now moved to Melbourne.
“I was loving a different challenge. I knew I would enjoy the role and thought I could do it,” he said.
“All my Kookaburras coaches, especially Ric Charlesworth and Barry Dancer, were very experienced and I learned a lot off them as a player and I definitely learned a lot from Strappy over the last year.
“I want to create a learning environment, somewhere that’s enjoyable and where players want to be. I think it’s really important that we create an environment where the players are in charge of their own development. And a sport like hockey is quite accustomed to developing people as well so we want to make sure we’re developing their lives outside hockey.”
A two-time winner of the Tasmanian Athlete of the Year award who led the Tassie Tigers to their inaugural Australian Hockey League title in 2014, Ockenden is well aware of his state’s impact on the international stage headlined by Olympians Maree Fish (1988), Daniel Sproule (1996, 2000), Matthew Wells (2000, 2004, 2008), David Guest (2008), Kim Walker (2008), Tim Deavin (2012, 2016), Josh Beltz (2020, 2024) and Maddi Brooks (2024).
Beltz and his brother Hayden plus Jack Welch remain in the Kookaburras squad. They have recently been joined by Magnus McCausland and Lachie Rogers who were among eight Tasmanians called up to Australia’s under-21 teams last year along with Jack Pritchard, Oscar Pritchard, Oscar Sproule, Oliver Stebbings, Brooks and her twin sister Taylor.
“I think it’s amazing the quality of athletes that we’ve been able to produce for a long time,” Ockenden added. “The number of athletes we’re sending over to national teams has been incredible.
“We need to increase our work with the women’s program and we’re certainly looking to do that. We want to contribute more to the Hockeyroos, especially looking towards the Brisbane Olympics because I think that’s an amazing opportunity for athletes in Tasmania. If they aspire to things like that, then the opportunity is there for them.
“The hockey community in Tassie is amazing. We’re able to create an environment where people are safe and happy and enjoying their sport and that’s what you want athletes to have. Hockey is always going to be very community-based and I think we can continue to produce good athletes.”