The Team Behind The Team #Olympic Champions @_GBHockey
Having won Gold at the Rio Olympics, we take a more in depth look at the team behind the successful Great Britain Women’s Hockey Team.
Front Row, left to right –
Emma Batchelor – GB Women’s Hockey lead physiotherapist. Having previously work with England Netball, Emma joined the Great Britain Hockey staff in 2011. During #Rio2016 Emma lived in the Village with the squad.
Emma Gardner – Performance Nutritionist based at Bisham Abbey. Emma has been a performance nutritionist since 2010 having previously worked with Blackburn Rovers, Lucozade Sport and most recently Northampton Saints RFC amongst others.
Andrea Furst – Australian born Andrea is the Sports Psychologist for the Women’s team. Andrea travelled to Rio with the team and, living out of the village, travelled to work with the squad on a daily basis.
Ben Rosenblatt – With a Ph.D in Sports Biomechanics and Training Specifity, Ben is Great Britain Hockey’s Strength and Conditioning Coach. Having studied in Cardiff Ben has over 10 years of experience at elite level sport. Previously holding the role of Head of Sport Science & Conditioning at Birmingham City FC. Ben started with Great Britain Hockey in 2013 and has been an integral part of their rise in the world rankings.
Back Row, left to right –
John Hurst – Team Manager and Goalkeeping Coach. John is one of the longest serving members of the Great Britain staff working with international teams for 26 years. In 2014 John received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his services to sport. John has been instrumental in the development of some of Great Britain’s greatest ever Goal Keepers from Simon Mason to current day heroin Maddie Hinch.
Michaela Smith – Team Leader (Team GB requirement). Michaela oversaw both men and women and liaised between Team GB and Hockey and was responsible for pre Event planning working closely with both Team Managers. Michaela lived in the Village.
Danny Kerry – Head Coach of the Great Britain women’s team since 2005. Danny’s mantra of ‘Culture Proceeds Performance’ encourage his players to find a way out of set scenarios, thus ‘Thinking Thursday’ was born. In 2016 Danny was appointed Head Coach of the England and Great Britain Women’s Hockey teams on a permanent basis through to the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020
Mike Rossiter – Chief Medical Officer for Great Britain hockey. Qualifying in 1991, Mike has worked at the very top of his field and brings a wealth of experience. Having been in his current role since 2001, Mike has also held the positions of Team Doctor for both Southampton FC and London Irish RFC, as well as Match Day Doctor for England Rugby.
Karen Brown – Assistant Coach. Karen is a former Great Britain hockey Olympian, having won Bronze in Barcelona 1992, as well as Commonwealth Silver and European Gold, Silver and Bronze. Capped 355 times, Karen became a Great Britain coach in 2005 having previously held the role as Head Coach at Chelmsford HC.
Craig Keegan – High Performance Coach for Great Britain hockey, as well as Under 21 Head Coach since 2008. Craig had a successful playing career with Beeston HC before joining Belper HC as Head Coach in 2001. Craig’s overall responsibility is Talent Identification and overseeing Player Development.
Amber Luzar – Performance Analyst. Amber has a vital role to play in the preparation of any given match. Producing detailed data and video footage of opponents as well as delivering in depth post-match reports, Amber is a vital cog in the Great Britain performance machine. Amber also worked as Performance Analyst for Reading FC during their Premiership years.
