The assistant coach to England’s hockey team showed true sportsmanship and support to Team SA by helping our men’s hockey team find a training facility to use in the UK.
South Africa (10 August 2022) – Iain Shippey, the coach for South Africa’s men’s hockey team, shared how Kwan Browne, United Kingdom’s assistant coach for their Commonwealth Games hockey side, helped our team find accommodation and a training facility despite the rivalry between the two teams. The show of true sportsmanship to ensure a great match is heartwarming!
Iain shared the heartwarming story on his Instagram account and explained that the South African side was having trouble finding a training facility and accommodation for the duration of the Commonwealth Games.
The management team for the South African hockey side were advised to reach out to Kwan Browne for assistance, and he went above and beyond. South Africa even faced off against the England side during the semi-final for the bronze medal. Sadly, South Africa just lost out in the end. Despite the opposition, the sportsmanship shown is incredible!
This is Iain’s tale of good sportsmanship.
“Connections: True story on the eve of the Bronze medal match between England and SA, this is one of the background stories that should be told before anyone stands on a podium.
Two weeks before the Commonwealth Games, the SA Men’s Hockey team had not confirmed a venue for their training camp in the UK.
Unbeknown to the team, the management held a crisis meeting as we endeavoured to resolve this dilemma. We had no sponsor and urgently needed a solution.
We had to call people and ask if they would host us. One of our players suggested that we call Kwan Browne to ask him if he could help. It was 11:59 on the clock as it was two days before the end of the school year and we were looking to base at a school with access to a boarding house, a hockey field, and a gym.
Kwan moved heaven and earth for us and asked Mill Hill School, where he is Director of Hockey, if they could host us. He came back with the message. ‘You can stay for free, please can you pay the cost price of the food.” The kindness of this gesture left us speechless.
Only then did we discover that Kwan was also the assistant coach of England. He went the extra mile for the team who would contend against his England for the Bronze medal.
These are the stories that need to be told. Tomorrow will be agony for one of the teams and ecstasy for the other. Mill Hill School and Kwan Browne thanks for keeping us in the race!”
We love hearing stories like this! Thank you Kwan, for supporting Team South Africa and helping our men’s hockey side compete at the Commonwealth Games.
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