Ex-Black Stick complains about team environment
Former Black Sticks goalkeeper Amelia Gibson says 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.
Gibson has told 1 News she had to seek outside psychological help because she couldn’t trust getting it inside the team environment.
Hockey New Zealand said yesterday it would consider her complaint as part of a wider review it is undertaking.
News of Gibson’s complaint comes after Hockey NZ said it would not take any further action over the email that Black Sticks coach Mark Hager accidentally sent to all his players, criticising some for a lack of fitness.
Hockey Players’ Association executive manager Glen Sulzberger says other players have also complained about their treatment and he will put these before Hockey NZ chief executive Ian Francis on Monday.
Gibson said that her case amounted to ‘‘mistreatment as a player’’.
‘‘You want to be treated with integrity, you want to be able to play to the best of your ability but if you’re in a negative environment it’s not possible to perform,’’ she told 1News.
‘‘This isn’t a one-off situation, this is the environment players are in, and it is really hard for players to come forward – especially current players when, if they were like me, they could be in fear of their career.’’
Gibson said she sought help from a team psychologist for anxiety at the start of last year before deciding to seek outside help.
‘‘I wanted absolute trust in who I was talking to and someone who was outside of the environment who would hear my voice,’’ she said.
Sulzberger said other players had come forward with their experiences following the publicity over the Hager email.
Hockey NZ said that it had received a complaint from a third party but after legal consultation did not deem it worthy of further action.
‘‘However, to be 110 per cent sure we have decided to take another look at the complaint as part of of broader review we are conducting into the systems and processes we have in place to support our players,’’ Francis said in a statement to 1 News.