Hockey: Change in culture a factor in rising rank

Craig Parnham

The United States women's hockey team were ranked No12 in the world after the 2012 London Olympics.

But all that started changing when Craig Parnham took the reins as coach from January the following year.

The US dropped two rungs within 2013 and today enjoy a No 5 ranking coming into the nine-day Hawke's Bay Cup starting on Saturday.

"It's a nice, steady incline so we hope to keep on the profile," says Parnham, who lives in Lancaster City, Pennsylvania.

"More importantly we'll develop players and people," says the 41-year-old Englishman, putting their meteoric rise to a "clear vision".

He feels having acquired a clear concept, his proteges have had to establish what they want to get out of it.

Programmes were generated and a culture established to drive their behaviour and standards.

Mindful that it sounds cliched, Parnham anticipates a change in performance "game by game and tournament by tournament".

The US embrace an attacking philosophy under Parnham, who is a former Great Britain women's assistant coach from 2007-2012.

"We exert pressure on teams physically," he says, adding the US thrive on energy and team spirit and that they have fun while in the thick of a dogfight.

The coach is quick to point out there's always room for improving his players' stick work and other facets of play.

"They are talented players but we all have issues to work on," he says, grateful to receive an invite to an international platform where the US can "play before a knowledgeable home crowd".

It is an ideal stepping stone to the Rio Olympic qualifying tourney in June at Valencia, Spain, where the top three teams will make the cut automatically.

For those who miss out, the Pan-Am tourney in Toronto, Canada, in July will see the winners qualify as continental champions.

Parnham says having the Dutch, Germans and Great Britons here will offer them a sense of "we were there too".