Cowie: TT hockey team must stick to identity

Assistant coach of the Trinidad and Tobago hockey team Darren Cowie, said TT must maintain their style of play when they compete at the 2018 Hockey Indoor World Cup in Germany, which takes place in Berlin from February 7 to 11.

TT will play alongside Poland, Kazakhstan, Germany, Czech Republic and Australia in Pool A in the 12-team tournament.

Cowie said TT must stick to their game plan and not follow the style of the other teams. “We can’t change our identity, we have to stick with what has been working for us and what has brought us the success and had us playing at a good pace,” Cowie said. “(We have to maintain) our defensive intensity, our speed and skill and playing a lot on the counters have been working for us a lot.”

The national hockey team will leave Trinidad on January 28 for a camp in Holland before the World Cup begins. Cowie said the camp in Holland will allow the national team to play against tough opposition.

“Although we are playing practice matches down here against the President’s XI and some of the best club players in the country, it still may not be at the level the World Cup would be at. The club teams in Holland will more or less be up to that standard, speed wise and skill wise so that will help us up the tempo. It will also help us prepare more tactically on how the European teams play.”Cowie said the management team is researching their opponents to find out what are their strengths and weaknesses. “Our two IT guys Nicholas Baldeosingh and Kern Lee and myself have been doing some research online. They have European Championships going on and they posted all their games online, so we could have a look at it and analyse some of their players and analyse some of their tactics on set plays such as penalty corners and probably prepare as best as we could.”