Bartel on board to assist SA hockey men

The showpiece event starting on May 31 will be played in The Hague, in the Netherlands.

The South African team also confirmed local television broadcaster SuperSport as their event sponsor.

Berkhout will serve as specialist high performance consultant to head coach Fabian Gregory.

“It is a privilege to work with an ambitious coach in Fabian and to continue building on the role I played previously with the SA men’s team in 2013,” said Berkhout.

The University of Amsterdam graduate was recently an adviser to the South Africa women’s hockey team head coach Giles Bonnet.

Gregory was assistant coach of the national women’s side at the time and developed a productive working relationship with Berkhout.

“It is a challenge to create a competitive ‘dark horse’ team with the limited resources we have, but I am confident we will surprise sooner or later during the World Cup,” said Berkhout.

– Sapa