Sevenoaks Hockey Club are delighted to announce that Ian Haley will be joining the club as both Men’s 1st XI Player-Coach and Lead Junior Coach. He will also be responsible for coaching the Ladies 2nd XI. Ian joins the club having been most recently Men’s 1st XI Player-Coach at Ipswich Seven Hockey Club and Head Coach of Hockey at Orwell Park School.
Ian impressed throughout the selection process with his passion for the game, his overarching knowledge of both hockey and coaching at the broadest level and his commitment to improving players of all ages and abilities, within a culture of enjoyment, positive challenge and long-term development.
Already working alongside other coaches within the Great Britain and European coaching frameworks we look forward to welcoming Ian to our flourishing and family club, learning from his huge experience, and to working alongside him over the coming years in the next stage of our Club’s development.
Ian said, “I am very excited to be joining Sevenoaks Hockey Club at such an exciting time. The enthusiasm and passion for the game and club from all those I have met, as well as the clear commitment to broader culture and ethos, assure me that this is a great opportunity for me to work alongside like-minded individuals and develop as a coach. I cannot wait to get going!”
Ian’s Playing Career
Ian’s playing credentials are outstanding, having represented South Africa 86 times between 2003 and 2012, scoring 28 goals. Throughout that period, he was a part of the South African squad for a number of major tournaments including the 2012 Olympic Games in London and the 2010 Commonwealth Games and FIH Hero Honda World Cup in Delhi.
He has extensive experience of English hockey, having been in England since 2001, when he joined Millfield School as a sports scholar. During his time in England he has played in the National Premier League with the University of Exeter and Reading, as well as winning National Division One with Firebrands. More recently he has Player-Coached Taunton Vale and Ipswich Men’s 1st XI’s.
Ian’s Coaching Career
Ian is an England Hockey level 2 and FIH Hockey Academy level 3 coach and is currently enrolled on the European Hockey Federation Coaches 4 Europe Programme. He has wide-ranging junior coaching experience from Prep-Schools all the way up to NAGS, as well as senior experience with Universities and Clubs.
Between 2012 and 2017, Ian was Director of Hockey at Queen’s College in Taunton, where he was responsible for planning and delivering the school’s hockey vision. During that time, they achieved unprecedented success with a variety of age groups, regularly qualifying for the regional rounds and competing in the National Schools Finals ten times over a five-year period. This success saw him recruited by James Madison University in Virginia, USA, where he was Technical Director and Assistant Coach responsible for the planning and leading of practices, video analysis sessions, one-to-one coaching and master coaching at camps.
A thirst to continue playing at a high-level brought him back to England, where he took on the role as Ipswich Men’s 1st XI Player-Coach. Last season under Ian’s charge they doubled their points tally from the previous season in the East Premier A Division. Alongside his role at Ipswich, Ian has been coaching at Orwell Park School, where he plans and oversees the hockey curriculum for the whole school.
In addition to this, Ian has been working with England Hockey, as one of the girls’ coaches at the Bury Performance Centre and is involved in the Hockey Wales setup as Head Coach to the U16 boys and Assistant Coach to the U18 boys.
Ian is also passionate about the indoor game and in 2018 he was selected by the South African Hockey Federation to attend the FIH high performance indoor coaching course in Berlin. He put this into practice with Ipswich Seven HC, guiding them to a 4th place finish in National Indoor Division One, just three points off promotion to the Premier League.
With Ian’s arrival, and Jen Wilson continuing with the Ladies 1st XI, the club now have Olympian Player-Coaches for both 1st XI’s, representing a thoroughly exciting time for the club.