Bhubaneswar: In case you are too engrossed in men's Hockey World Cup in Odisha and the players fighting out on the striking blue astro turf; here's an interesting fact about the brains that run the show from the touchline. Very few know that the coaches of several teams share a strikingly common trait - as all of them have been coaches of different women's team as well.
The current team India coach, Harendra Singh was the coach of the Indian women's hockey team helping it win the Asian championship in 2017. Later he was appointed as the head coach of the men's team in 2018.
Similarly, the head coach of England, Danny Kerry had led the English Women's hockey team to gold at the Rio Olympics before he was appointed as the head coach of men's team. The Netherlands coach Maximiliano Caldas was appointed as the coach of the men's team after he led the country's women's team to gold at 2012 London Olympics.
Malaysia team coach Roelant Oltmans, New Zealand coach Darren Smith and the South African team coach had started their career from coaching women's teams.
Similarly, Ireland's Alexander Cox, China's Kim Sang-ryul, Canada's Co Paul Bundy, and Belgium team coach Shane McLeod had had stints with various national women's hockey teams as well.