Former Black Sticks support Hager

Seven former Black Sticks women’s players have gone public in support of coach Mark Hager.

Between them, Katie Glynn, Laura Douglas, Lucy Talbot, Anna Alexander (Thorpe), Bianca Russell, Emily Gaddum (Naylor) and Krystal Forgesson have 864 test caps. All played extensively under Hager.

Hager has been in the spotlight after accidentally sending an email critical of some Black Sticks players to all the players, rather than just the support staff member he intended.

There have since been complaints about the team environment.

In their letter, the players said they strongly rejected allegations around a ‘‘negative environment’ within the Black Sticks programme and claims of players being mistreated.

‘‘Mark is a person of high integrity and has always created a highpressure training environment designed to challenge players physically and mentally,’’ they said.

The players said they released the statement in response to media coverage over the past two weeks and they strongly support Hager. The statement comes three days after New Zealand Hockey and the Hockey Players Association announced an independent reviewer to consider criticism over the Black Sticks women’s team environment.

Earlier this month, the Hockey Players Association advised New Zealand Hockey it has received concerns from players in the wake of an email botch-up by Hager.

Former Black Sticks goalkeeper Amelia Gibson told 1 News she was mistreated as a player in the national women’s hockey side and called time on her seven-year international career because of it.

The seven former players said they enjoyed a challenging but positive experience playing under Hager in the Black Sticks.

‘‘We did not feel bullied, mistreated, or that Mark was playing mind games with us. We always had a strong player leadership group and if we ever had any issues as players with the environment or anything else we could go to them with our concerns and they would address it with the coaching staff,’’ the statement read.

‘‘Everyone in a team is accountable for the environment, players inclusive. There were always many different ways you could speak up and voice your concerns if you had any, and these concerns were addressed and resolved as a group.’’

The statement praised Hager’s efforts in taking the Black Sticks from last place at the Beijing Olympics – with a ranking of 13th in the world – to be the current Commonwealth Games champions and ranked sixth in the world.

Hager took charge of the team soon after the disappointing campaign in Beijing.

The players said Hager created a high-pressure training environment that was designed to challenge players physically and mentally.

‘‘The environment was tough and players had to make many sacrifices to be part of it but for us it was not a sacrifice, it was a choice, and we all committed. To become a better team, to climb up the rankings and compete with the best in the world we needed to work harder than we had ever done before,’’ the statement read.

‘‘Mark never allows the group to become complacent and he always has every player in the squad pushing and challenging for selection. Through Mark’s high expectations and low tolerance of complacency, this became ingrained in us as individuals and we were constantly striving for better performances and demanding more of ourselves in both trainings and in games – this essentially led us to being successful, strong and resilient as a group.

‘‘These high expectations and constant goals to get better have essentially helped us all immensely in life after sport.’’

However, Hager’s tough environment wasn’t for everyone.

The statement from the former players said resilient players thrived, but players who were less equipped to cope under pressure struggled.

The seven former players, via the statement, said to be successful as a team it is a must that players are able to handle pressure as a group and also as individuals

‘‘It is a coach’s job to find and support the best players to take on this challenge. Our time in the team was always extremely tough and challenging but that is to be expected at an international sporting level.’’

‘‘Mark is a person of high integrity.’’