Written by After the shock early termination of Australian women’s hockey team coach, Adam Commens in 2016, for allegedly exposing himself to some of the Hockeyroos during celebrations after the finals in Rio, Hockey Australia is again launching inquiries into improprieties within the sport. Currently allegations of a toxic and destructive culture within the organisation are being examined in an independent review dating back to the 2016 Olympics.
In the lead up to the Hockeyroos squad selection announcement for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, letters have reached Hockey Australia management by past and present players expressing displeasure with coach Paul Gaudoin and high-performance director Toni Cumpston. While Hockey Australia supports key senior figures, players allege that they have lost confidence in the abilities of the coaching staff and that a destructive climate of bullying between players subsisted due to a failure by administration to promote a culture of excellence and team cohesion.
Hockey World Cup President Melanie Woosnam responded to one letter dated May 2018, stating that Hockey Australia were empathetic to the concerns of the players and would implement positive measures to correct the culture within the Hockeyroos team environment and enable squad members to achieve success moving forward.
Former players Madeleine Ratcliffe and Kathryn Slattery, signatories of the May 2018 letter, reported that no significant change had ensued. “The board said they would do all these things but a lot of it never came to fruition. A lot of it got kicked down the road, or players were blamed, or it was pushed under the rug,” Ratcliffe said.
Despite being ranked No.4 in the world, if Hockey Australia cannot resolve the discord within the team by acting to restore faith in management and administration, this toxic culture will remain and the Hockeyroos chance of success in the coming Olympic Games will be affected, leaving Australia’s gold medal hopes with the No. 2 ranked men’s hockey team, the Kookaburras.
Hockeyroos, Hockey Australia toxic bullying investigation news, Tokyo Olympics 2021
Hockey Australia under fire after Hockeyroos camp’s ‘destructive’ culture revealed (smh.com.au)