Moodley Keen To Stay On As Hockey Coach
[Written by Stephen Wright]
Kovin Moodley says he would jump at the opportunity to lead Bermuda women’s hockey team at the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, El Salvador, next summer.
Moodley, who was appointed the team’s coach on a short-term contract in February, was instrumental in helping the women’s team finish top of their group in the CAC Games qualifiers at the National Sports Centre over the Easter weekend.
Bermuda recorded wins over Jamaica and Guyana and drew with Puerto Rico.
“I came in with the sole intent of trying to achieve something special in a short time and prove I might be a good prospect moving forward,” Moodley told Bernews.
“The decision will ultimately lie with the [Bermuda Hockey] Federation. I want what’s best for Bermuda hockey, and if there’s a feeling I can carry both teams [men and women] forward and help push the sport forward on the island, I would love to have that conversation with the Federation and see if I could add even more value in the future.”
Tse Smith, the Bermuda women’s team captain, said she hopes the Federation can raise sufficient funding to secure Moodley’s services for the CAC Games.
“Kovin came in with a new system, new formations, and it threw a lot of us off because we had only played under one or two other coaches,” Smith said.
“He was a breath of fresh air, always positive, and we adapted. I hope he can stay on. I know funding is an issue, he has to get paid, but hopefully, we can bring him back.
“Look at what we’ve achieved in just eight weeks.”
Despite having only two months to prepare for the tournament, Moodley said the willingness of the players to embrace new ideas such as video analysis, mental skills training, and specialised training sessions helped accelerate their development.
“It’s probably the best thing as a coach to have a team driven by the process rather than the outcome,” the 30-year-old said.
“I’m a dynamic and resourceful coach. I came in and wanted to set a plan to try and influence a high-performance culture.
“It required a whole lot of sacrifice and dedication to the process. I was impressed with the players’ willingness to step outside their comfort zone in our preparation.”
The women’s team finished the qualifiers unbeaten after defeating Jamaica 2-1, Guyana 1-0 and drawing 0-0 against Puerto Rico to finish top of the group.
Moodley said the most satisfying aspect of the matches was the players’ commitment to the game plan and fighting spirit, scoring twice in the final quarter against Guyana and netting a last-gasp winner against Guyana.
“The goal for us was to try and win every game and finish on top of the group,” Moodley added.
“We would have loved to have finished with a third win, but finishing unbeaten was just as sweet.
“It’s quite intense to concede a goal in any outcome, and I was pleased they had trust in those moments and stuck to the plan. They showed a lot of resilience.”
Although the men’s team missed out on one of the two qualifying spots, losing three and drawing one of their matches, Moodley believes the results were not a true reflection of their performances.
“We had to experience what it was like to play at this level to know if we belonged here,” said Moodley, an international Hockey Federation Level 2 certified coach.
“Unfortunately, a couple of the results didn’t reflect the amount of effort and dominance we had in phases of the game.
“If you’re not clinical at the international level, you can get punished and get hurt. The team is quite conscious of where we let ourselves down.”
