When he was much, much younger, Wade Paton, vice-captain of the South African hockey team, would watch Gregg Clark play for the national side from up close. His father, Alan, was the coach of the squad and he and his brother Taine, also now a South African international, would be enthralled by South Africa’s most-capped player.
Now Clark, who earned 250 caps as a player, has coached Paton and his teammates to the Olympics, and perhaps more importantly, has lifted the sport to a new level of awareness in the South African sporting arena.
“Clarkie was a hero when we were growing up,” said Paton. “My dad used to coach the national team and we used to tour with him, and we’d see Gregg as this superstar. Now working under him, he is so focused and so determined, and has so much belief for us, and that’s the most important thing. He believes in us.”
Belief. It flowed from Clark as he spoke after the team arrived home from the FIH Olympic qualifying tournament in Japan on Tuesday. Their 2-1 victory in the crucial match against Japan had heart-stopping moments near the end, but Clark always believed this side could do it. When he says this team is the “golden generation” it’s not a throwaway line for him, not a cliché to keep his job – he lives what he preaches. Clark is not paid a monthly salary by the South African Hockey Association (Saha), which operates on a tight budget. Like his players, he has sacrificed a “normal” life because he believes.
“It’s difficult to put into words how much these guys have given up,” said Clark. “Without any assurances, people are flying back from Europe, not just once, but several times. It’s time away from work, people have quit jobs so that they can take lesser jobs so they can get around the whole leave issue. They really want this badly. I talk about the quality of these guys, but they really want it badly. They are hungry and ambitious, and they want this so much, and that is why they do what they do.”
Clark represented South Africa in Atlanta in 1996 and Athens in 2004. He was a part of the team denied a place in Sydney by Nocsa because of – depending on who you speak to – politics or that they weren’t good enough. In 2004 the South Africans came close to progressing further, but were undone by a dodgy umpiring decision against the Netherlands and then a loss when they were leading against India.
“Yeah, in 2004 we were a good side, we were coming towards the end of our life cycle as a team. Some people like myself were a little long in the tooth perhaps. Maybe the 2000 team, when we didn’t go to Sydney, was a little better. We had a few elements of that team missing in 2004. Maybe this team isn’t quite there yet, but they have more potential, I believe. What Dave (Carr, Saha president) said earlier about the number of games we have played in the last year (SA have only played 37 Tests in a year, while other international sides have played 37 Tests in six months), we are lacking game time and competition. If we had had a similar programme to the ladies, for example, where they will have played close to 100 games by the time they get to London… well, that’s what we’re lacking,” said Clark, whose experience of Olympic Games will be a great asset to South Africa.
“It definitely helps. Depending on the selection, obviously, but we could have four guys who went to Beijing. This will be my fourth Olympics. It’s such a unique experience and if you’re not prepared for it a lot comes as a surprise. In Beijing we talked it up, but the guys didn’t realise what it was like. In 2004 we came close, we came really close. Myself, (Craig) Jackson and (Greg) Nicol had been to 1996 and we knew what to expect. It just depends on the team’s focus and, in Beijing, with the greatest respect to the players who were there, I don’t think our focus was quite there. I don’t think we’ll have that problem with this bunch of guys.”
Watching South Africa play, you would never say they had only had four training camps in the last four years. In Japan there was a composure to their play that belied their lack of preparation, but Clark says the intelligence of his players to take on board tactics and game plans is what makes them a special outfit.
“It’s just about seeing that same movie over and over again and knowing what to do in the moment. This is a smart bunch of guys. We’re now relying on a handful of tough games where we’ve seen that movie before, and maybe the coach banging on about it and telling them to expect the moment, but they take it all on board and they can apply it.
“I can’t really describe how much Japan have improved since the Champs Challenge, which is five months ago. We beat them 3-2 at the Champs Challenge, which sounds close, but we were 3-0 up at halftime and we gave them two soft goals. Going into this tournament I wasn’t that concerned, but when we watched them they were a really slick outfit. They’d been in camp for 200 days and they were vastly improved. They were difficult in the pool game, but we were still dominating games. They were hitting us on the break, which they were good at. It was a great result for us.
“We move the ball around. We like to try to retain possession and get the ball into certain areas. We have quite skilful forwards, we’ve got attacking midfielders. We’re not playing a very direct game; we like to hold on to the ball and wait for the right moment.
“We may need to review that when we go to the Olympics and come up against the likes of Australia, who put a lot of pressure on you defensively and they won’t let us hang on to the ball for as long. In fact, the longer you hold on to it, the more likely you are to get mugged and concede a counter-attack goal. I don’t want to tinker too much, but we’ll see.”
Clark is hoping Sascoc and Saha will be able to source some more money. He wants to have a training camp at the end of May, and then send the team to Europe to play some of the major nations. The team has no major sponsor, save for Mr Price Sport, who supply their kit, and Virgin Active, who let them use their gyms, plus a few other suppliers. They need a corporate to drop some cash into their coffers to lift them to the next level. Clark and his team, though, will continue to make the sacrifices.
“I get paid from time to time. It’s not a regular cheque every month. Things have changed. I was a full-time coach with Saha until a few years ago, but now it’s more of a project-based thing because times are tough. What’s my job? This is it,” smiled Clark.
“My family and a lot of people think I’m crazy because of what I do as hockey is seen as such a Cinderella sport, but I’m an incredibly competitive person and I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think that there was quality on the table here, and there are bigger things down the line.” – The Star