Belgium next step in promising career
has snagged one of Cairns’ most promising hockey coaches in what could be the driver for a distinguished international career.
Cairns Hockey Association regional coaching co-ordinator Matt Cook has driven some of the best representative results in the region’s history in the past three years but will say “au revoir” in the coming weeks after taking up a post as technical director in Arlon, Belgium.
The regional city, situated in the country’s south, is on the brink of entering a team in Belgium’s strong national women’s hockey league, which the 24-year-old will coach on top of developing young players for a future men’s Premier League bid.
Cook had knocked back several offers to leave last season due to a few boxes left to tick in Cairns, but a persistent Arlon Hockey Club came calling again with an opportunity too good to refuse.
He consulted a number of clubs on a European holiday in the off-season but said Arlon stood out because of its “similar feel to Cairns”, including a strong support network around the hockey program.
“The board was very supportive of me and they made me feel very welcome and they chased me pretty hard,” Cook said.
“I thought it’s probably the time to give it a crack.
“Obviously I’ve had some great memories here and I think we’ve started to see some really good results, which I’m super proud of and I feel very strongly about the area, but ... I’m also super excited to give Europe a go.”
He now wishes he paid more attention when he learnt French in high school, but the club will provide lessons to get him up to speed.
Cook said he had no question about wanting a career in high-performance sport and Cairns regional coaching director David McNeil backed him to lead a national team in the future if he desired.
“There’s definitely more pathways in Europe for him to progress as a coach and there’s no doubt about it, Matt will end up where he wants to end up,” McNeil said. “If he wants to coach at an international level, I believe he can get there.
“Matt came to us as a very young, raw kid really and he’s matured through his term here.
“He’s got a desire to want to learn and that’s important in a coaching role. “He’s very versatile. “As long as we get the end product we want, one of Matt’s strengths is he’s always searching for new ways to do it and usually they’re better ways.
“Although he’s going to be missed here in Cairns – and it doesn’t matter who you speak to, they all talk about what a great job he’s done – an overseas appointment is for his benefit.”
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