Following the news that Andy Richardson our W1 Head Coach is stepping down the end of the season we caught up with him to ask him about his time in the role, the ups, the downs and his plans for the future.
The 2024/2025 season marks your third year in charge as our Head Women’s Coach can you tell us why you’ve decided it will also be your last?
When I first took on the role, I promised the Neil Murphy that I would commit fully to three years (unless someone better came along). The three years are coming to an end, and I feel that I have given nearly all I can give (we have 8 games to go!) to coaching this group of players. The squad deserve to have someone coaching them who has the capabilities and commitment to take them to the next level; at present in my life, I would find it difficult to do that.
You’ve had an extraordinary journey, many of the players in the squad today were with you when you came into the role, what would you say have been your highlights?
When you are in sport long enough, you have ups and downs.
We have had successes on the pitch, we have also had more challenging times. When you are in sport long enough, you have ups and downs. But you don’t always get to work with a special group of people closely week in week out who look after each other and work together to achieve a joint goal. They have helped to inspire me, teach me things about life and also about myself. It is a privilege to have been given the opportunity to coach this group of players at a club who have been supportive of the journey. So that is the highlight – enjoying the day-to-day opportunities you get when working with people.
In your first year you put in a completely unbeaten season, winning every single game along the way to securing promotion out of the Conference East into our current Division One South- how do you reflect on that achievement a few years on?
I remember it being stressful! Having to go down to the final game made it tougher than we had hoped – but we trusted the process throughout the season and the players got what they deserved.
Southgate Coach Andy Richardson with trophy. Southgate v Guildford – Vitality WHL East Conference at Southgate Hockey Centre, Trent Park, London, UK on 01 April 2023.
Photo by Simon Parker/SP Action Images
Conversely last year you all experienced a challenging start to the season in a new division. It took a while for the results to come – after the success of the previous season how did you find that run of defeats and what did you need to do to turn it around ultimately finishing well in 7th place?
It was clearly not easy, but again we needed to trust the process with the belief that we were making improvements and progress in each game. The mental strength of the squad came to the fore, again they worked hard and looked after each other throughout. This ultimately got us through the season, while we worked hard to make it enjoyable both at training and at the weekend.
Looking forwards now, what would you like to see next for this group of players as they move on with a new coach next season?
I’d like them to continue to be a squad who are kind to others.
I’d like them to continue enjoying their hockey both as individuals and collectively. I’d like them to continue to be a squad who are kind to others. I’d like them to work hard for each other and have each others’ backs. If they do these things I suspect they will see successes – and it won’t just be on the pitch.
Do you think you have changed in your approach or philosophy over these past few years coaching this playing group?
Essentially, players have to enjoy playing. Turning up and then dropping deep to defend is no fun in my eyes. I have just been blessed with players who have allowed us to try and play attacking hockey, which I hope has been enjoyable to watch as well. I know I don’t have all the answers (if any!) but having players who can solve problems is important and allowing talented players to express themselves freely without fear is also important. Perhaps at times we have managed to facilitate this – but I am also well aware that I have made mistakes when trying to achieve this.
Which leads me onto – what next..? Do you have any plans for the future?
Who knows! At the moment the future is a little uncertain. If we do end up staying in this area, then you can be sure I’ll continue to wear the red and black and contribute some experience; I clearly don’t contribute goals!
Finally it’s important to note that you aren’t leaving the post just yet, this Saturday sees a big fixture against Barnes to re-start the league and you have some big games ahead. What are you hopes for the rest of the season?
My hopes are that we play to our potential every week, if we do then we will be a very hard side to beat.
