From coal mine to gold mine: Kieran Govers brings golden touch to Malaysia

Govers, who has won two World Cups with Australia, will be with Malaysia as an assistant coach for the Asian Champions Trophy.

File Photo: Kieran Govers in action during Hockey India League. | Photo Credit: SANDEEP SAXENA/The Hindu

Kieran Govers’ full-time job requires him to spend long hours under the ground. He is a shift superintendent with a coal-mining company in New South Wales.

Above the ground, though, Govers knows a thing or two about mining gold.

Govers made 126 appearances for the Australia men’s hockey team, winning two World Cups - in 2010 and 2014, and a Commonwealth Games gold in 2014. There is bronze at the 2012 London Olympics too.

He drew curtains on his international career in 2018 but could not turn his back on the sport he holds dear. He still plays for the Adelaide Stars in the Hockey One league in Australia, but he’s much more than just a player now.

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“I’m the president of the Illawarra South Coast Hockey Association. It’s a big role. There are many clubs and between two to three thousand members in the community. I’d been a member for eight years on the board, and I’ve just taken over as president and chairman this year. I love hockey, and I want to develop and see the sport in my hometown get good again,” Govers told Sportstar.

Recently, he added a third entry to his job profile. If clinching almost every title at the pinnacle of the sport and venturing into sports administration were not enough, Govers decided to don the coaching hat.

Along with former Australia player and teammate Glenn Turner, Govers joined the Malaysian men’s team as an assistant coach.

“We’ve been here for seven months. It is in good hands. We’re just coming in to fine-tune a few things and help with the attacking play. Us, as Australians, when we played Malaysia we were scared. They’re skilful. They’re fast. And we’re just trying to bring that flair that we know they have so that they can be dangerous and score a few goals,” Govers said.

Malaysia’s nickname - Speedy Tigers - gives its blueprint away. Over the years, the Asian side has tormented teams with its swift counter-attacking play. In tournaments, everyone wants to avoid Malaysia.

As pleasing as it might be to soak in this reputation, the Speedy Tigers have a problem with it.

Malaysia finds itself chained to this tag. It has always been a threatening team and seldom a title contender. The bronze and silver medals have come by, but the gold has eluded. This has prevented Malaysia from qualifying for the Olympics since 2000.

Turning this tide is the priority of the current coaching staff, Govers feels.

“The boys have been together for so long. They just need to bring back some confidence. When they go to tournaments, they get down on themselves and think they’re not playing too well. That’s where we’ve got to bring that positive mentality back to the team. And with that, play confident, happy, and free. Then it’s easy hockey after that. They’ll play like they play hockey for their clubs back in Malaysia.”

The chance for an Olympics berth slipped away from Malaysia in 2018 after a heartbreaking penalty shootout loss to Japan in the Asian Games final.

Five years on, that loss only drives the team forward, Govers said. “The Japan loss still hurts them. That is the drive they bring to training. That is why we still have a few older heads on the team because they’re still hurting. As coaches, we do not need to bring that (Olympics) up.”

In 2023, Malaysia heads to the Asian Games - offering a spot at the Paris Olympics - as the Sultan Azlan Shah champion. In the tournament’s 40-year history, this was the Speedy Tigers’ maiden title.

Govers is eagerly looking forward to the next 70 days. Beginning with the Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai, the dress rehearsal for the Hangzhou Games, Govers hopes to see Malaysia play with the tenacity and killer instinct he put forth for Australia.

Having mined out gold for the Kookaburras, a chance to do it with the Speedy Tigers might be around the corner for Govers.