Local coach excels at SA Masters tour
EL 35+ team finish third at IPT hockey tournament
Lorrinda Thomas always knew her life would be dedicated to sport and as a winning coach for the 2022 SA Masters Hockey IPT held in Cape Town from April 29 to May 1, her passion and respect for hockey has only intensified.
Thomas’s team ranked third overall in the Gazelle section (35+ age group) and their performance was commended by rival teams as a phenomenal display of skill and endurance.
“One of teams we ended up beating said we were so fast and we had the legs, so that makes a massive difference because the team was very fit,” says Thomas.
In addition to their endurance, Thomas regards her team as an exceptional group of committed players who made coaching easy for her because they prioritised developing a synergy as a team.
From her assessments of local hockey, Thomas believes the game would improve if coaches and teams avoided foregrounding individuals and stressed creating and designing combinations based on maximising available group strengths to combat any weaknesses in the team as a whole.
Thomas’s sentiments regarding the game carry immense weight as she has been involved with the sport for almost her entire life, with much of her professional experience spent developing local hockey at all levels from administration to umpiring, and everything in between.
She studied sports science at university, certain that she wanted to be involved in sport in some capacity. When she became a sports administrator at school level she was thrown into coaching and had much success as one of her early stints at U/16 Border hockey led her team to victory at the IPT of that year.
She has worked tirelessly both on and off the field to develop the game at local, national and international level, saying “I have to wear three caps all the time — a players cap, an umpires cap and a coaches cap — and I have to keep changing between them, which is not easy to do”.
A staff member at Hudson Park High School and coach for Bows Ladies Hockey Club, she has played a hand in developing the sporting careers of many local talents and cites this vast array of coaching experience across different age groups and contexts is a helpful foundation for coaching at Master’s IPT level.
Thomas believes that getting involved in the administrative aspect of hockey, especially umpiring, ensures coaches are intellectually improving their game play.
“I have a good understanding of the rules so I then coach my team to make sure that they utilise the rules ... you can’t just rock up to a practice
as a coach, you need to prepare for your sessions and that takes time and effort.”
Thomas believes that successful coaches are the ones who encourage their players and opponents to provide feedback about coaching direction.
She encourages fellow coaches to “chat to opposition coaches to learn about how opponents view your team. Communicate with other coaches and be prepared to listen and to share ”.
As the Master’s team eases into a period of rest and recovery now, the local hockey season is underway and Thomas is currently preparing her club team for their upcoming fixtures.
Her hopes for the future of local hockey is that more and more
players and communities who have benefited from hockey will avail themselves to give back to the sport through volunteer work or other means.
“Local hockey needs more people to be involved in things like umpiring, coaching and other administrative duties because we have so much talent here, we just need more resources,” she said.
“We have a shortage of female umpires and this is because there are a number of barriers. On the part of sports admin, young ladies are not well developed for the admin roles and we fall short in terms of a system for umpires.
“At school level maybe players should give feedback and run a session now and then to give them exposure to coaching.”