Ric8217;s Chicks8217; on a different plane

Sydney, Sept 1: He's been described by his players asintimidating, scary, invasive, harsh, obsessive, eccentric, infuriating,relentless an...

Sydney, Sept 1: He8217;s been described by his players asintimidating, scary, invasive, harsh, obsessive, eccentric, infuriating,relentless and a few unprintable things as well. But Australian RicCharlesworth is a master field hockey coach. Charlesworth, a qualifieddoctor and former Member of Parliament, was regarded as the world8217;s besthockey player of his time. He represented Australia at four Olympics and wasan accomplished cricketer before he turned his hand to moulding Australia8217;swomen8217;s Hockeyroos into worldbeaters.

Their record since 48-year-old Charlesworth took over as coach in 1993 isunsurpassed: Olympic gold medallists at Atlanta in 1996; World Cup championsin 1994 and 1998; four-time Champions Trophy winners 1993, 95, 97 and 99and winners of the Commonwealth Games gold medal in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.And despite a shock third placing at this year8217;s Champion Trophy inAmsterdam, quot;Ric8217;s Chicksquot; will start as favourites to retain the gold medalhere. Akin to a religious order, membership of the Hockeyroos calls fordiscipline, sacrifice, constant self-examination and talent. There8217;s a codeof honesty among the squad. A player may come off the pitch believing shehas performed well, only to be told, and forceably, by Charlesworth of theirshortcomings. It8217;s perfection Charlesworth is after. He8217;s demanding,in-your-face, but statistically extremely effective. In the 245internationals during his time in charge, Australia has won 191, drawn 24and lost 30. His appointment revolutionised women8217;s hockey. He came in theaftermath of Australia8217;s failure to land a medal at the 1992 BarcelonaOlympics. The team then suffered from jealousy and cliquishness.

Charlesworth ended all that. It was his thoroughness, pedantic attention todetail and quest for perfection that set Charlesworth apart from othercoaches. So much so that Charlesworth is relinquishing the coaching jobafter the Olympics and such is his reputation as an innovator and resultscoach that there has been speculation of roles in other sports, evenAustralian Football. Another possibility is that he could take charge of theunderachieving men8217;s field hockey team. quot;I8217;m much less autocratic than Iwas,quot; he says. quot;But when you first start you want to make a stamp. quot;Anyway,coaches get far too much credit and far too much blame. There8217;s almost thisculture that the players are pawns and coaches are chess masters, I justthink it8217;s ridiculous.quot;

Players say he has mellowed over time. Back in 1995, senior member RechelleHawkes recalls that Charlesworth would get so frustrated he would grab aplayer by the shirt collar and rip into them. Charlesworth has a philosophyabout coaching. quot;I think this is a noble thing to do 8211; it8217;s a bit moreintelligent than people actually think. quot;It8217;s almost the coalface of humanendeavour, in the sense that there8217;s a physical and mental coming togetherof effort to produce a result.quot; Such is Charlesworth8217;s training regime thatdefender Jenny Morris believes there isn8217;t another team in Australia thatcan match their training or discipline. Linda Healey, Charlesworth8217;s yogainstructor, is awestruck at the Hockeyroos8217; unyielding commitment to theirsport. quot;I8217;ve helped professional basketballers, Australian Rules footballersand cricket teams, but these girls are just amazing.. they8217;re the mostcommitted team I8217;ve worked with.quot; So in the final weeks before Games,Charlesworth is driving his team to one more trophy and his last as nationalcoach. quot;There8217;s only a few times that I think we8217;ve been outplayed and lost.The frustration for me is that usually it8217;s our own fault,quot; he says. quot;Youare never going to feel like you8217;ve done everything. But you do as much asyou can.quot;