PROMISING hockey coach Danielle Cox has been pacing up and down the sideline for the last seven years.
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Now she will be able to do it with two gold medals around her neck.
Cox’s NSW under-13 boys’ team claimed back-to-back Australian national indoor hockey titles at Wollongong on January 13-15.
Not only has the 20-year-old steered NSW to successive gold medals, she has done so with a minimum of fuss and the talented youngsters are also yet to lose a game.
The Tacking Point Thunder junior coach was in charge when the side went through undefeated in 2016 and just to prove it wasn’t a fluke, she did so again last week.
In the three-day carnival, New South Wales scored an impressive 36 goals in six matches and conceded just four.
Cox said her job was made significantly easier by having a team who were all willing to learn.
“A couple of the boys have relatives that are ex-Olympians so they’ve got good mentors and lots of people they can look up to,” she said.
“The drive is there at that age too, they want to win, they want to get in there and have a go which makes my job a lot easier.
"The drive is there at that age (under-13) too, they want to win, they want to get in there and have a go."
- Danielle Cox
“The team is about developing team goals and making sure everyone is on the same page with the same motivation, and everyone is focused which is the important thing.”
In the final, New South Wales defeated Victoria 4-0 after both teams fought out a 2-all draw earlier in the competition.
It was the only match the NSW team didn’t win.
“We knew they were going to be a close contender for the final so we kept a few cards close to our chest (in that game) and a few other things up our sleeve coming into the final,” the 20-year-old said.
“We watched their game and had a close look at their tactics.”
Cox was hopeful her growing resume of success with state-level teams would be a starting point for future honours.
The challenge now was continuing her consistent performances.
“As a new coach coming through it’s good to build a bit of a reputation for future years to come and it’s exciting what the future might hold for me,” she said.
“I’d love to go for three (gold medals) in a row. I’ll put in again for the coaching position and see what happens and hopefully we’ll go for it again.
Tacking Point Thunder club president Jay Moore was thrilled to see Cox have such a high level of success.
"As a new coach coming through it’s good to build a bit of a reputation for future years to come."
- Danielle Cox
“It’s great to see a local girl do so well,” he said.
“As a club we’re really proud of what she’s achieved and it’s due to her great rapport with the kids.”
