At the international level, penalty corners play a major role in the outcome of a game. I only have to think back to how I won my Olympic Gold Medal. An extra time penalty corner goal was the difference between coming home with gold, or adding to the already disappointing tally of silver medals associated with the Kookaburras.  But at club level they are just as important!

In the European League, these players are highly sort after individuals as club managers know the difference having a lethal penalty corner battery can make to their success in the competition.  But what I have found throughout my hockey career and especially throughout the club scene in Australia is that we aren’t appreciating the value that this exciting part of the game can bring to a team’s performance.  I’ve been lucky throughout my time to be part of sides with great penalty corner experts such as Luke Doerner, Jay Stacy and Troy Elder, but players who are able to execute these skills with that calibre are few and far between.

For something that is so important, I always find it interesting to see that there doesn’t seem to be many development programs associated with creating penalty corner specialists, especially at the club level. International Teams know the value and invest the time into developing the cream of these specialists. After witnessing a State League 1 Match on the weekend where the difference between the 2 teams came down to the penalty corner specialist of the team that had defended for the majority of the game scoring a hatrick, it made me think, why isn’t this a bigger focus area for club development?

I think the sooner ‘the penny drops’ with understanding the ‘difference’ a strong penalty corner battery (pusher, trapper and hitter/flicker) can make, will be the difference between the successful and mediocre clubs.

For too long have we made do with reasonably competent specialists, or gone out and ‘poached’ from another club a player who delivers in this area. The time has come where the clubs need to start planning for their future and develop programs to help fill this void. Whilst there is a responsibility on the clubs to develop their areas of needs, I’m still shocked at the number of kids that don’t possess any penalty corner specialist skills!

Not everyone in the team can be the flicker, but you need a trapper and a pusher as well and for each of those positions you need a back-up to. Since retiring my role has seen me working in development type roles and what I find disturbing is the fact that there is so many kids today that haven’t bothered learning/developing a penalty corner skill.  If a kid wishes to be a successful hockey player, it is imperative that they develop at least one of the 3 main penalty corner skills.  I’ve seen situations where crunch selections for teams in major tournaments resolved by selecting a player that possesses a skill in this area. There’s no downfalls in developing these skills, only the chance to add another string to your bow!

So all in all, whilst the onus I believe is on the clubs to try and develop this area of expertise for their own success, it is a two way street with the kids needing to realise the importance of these skills and begin developing them from an early age.  What’s the best way to go about this? I don’t know, but what I know is that its something that need to be addressed.  I think in the past I was as naive about this issue as most, but when I standing there on the right post in the goal medal match of the 2004 Olympics and the ball crossed the line and sailed into the back of the net, the penny dropped for me of just how important this issue is!