In a bid to revive hockey in the country, Pakistan has appointed Dutchman Herman Kruis as its national hockey coaching advisor and brought in three more foreign coaches.
Australia’s David Dayer will take over as fitness coach, while Bob Veldoph will be the goalkeeping coach and Chris Bowen will serve as technical coach and sports psychologist. All three coaches have been given two-year contracts and reached Lahore on Saturday. They will be joined soon by Kruis, 70.
The Pakistan Hockey Federation has also appointed Olympian Tahir Zaman as director of high performance.
Kruis, who has worked previously in Indian hockey and in the Netherlands, will help the PHF develop young talent and prepare teams for major international events during his two-year contract.
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Soon after reaching Lahore, the three foreign coaches met Tahir and other PHF officials to discuss a comprehensive roadmap for the national hockey programmes, covering short-term, medium-term and long-term development plans.
The PHF has decided to rely on foreign coaching experts after the national team’s poor performance in the recently concluded FIH Pro League, where Pakistan failed to win a match against top teams such as the Netherlands, Belgium, India, Spain, England, Germany and Australia.
With the FIH World Cup due next month, the PHF will hope that the induction of foreign coaches and trainers improves the national team’s performance in the tournament.
Published on Jul 11, 2026
