Introduction: A Session with a Master Coach
Few names in international field hockey resonate as powerfully as Shane McLeod’s. Born and raised in New Zealand, McLeod has made his mark as both player and coach in Belgium, where he currently serves as head coach of the Belgium Red Lions—the reigning European and World Champions at the time of this talk. In this widely followed AMA (Ask Me Anything) hosted by Hockey Today CC on April 3, 2020, McLeod generously shared lessons from his extensive coaching journey, with insightful questions from his international audience and co-hosts Ernst Baart and Bernardo Fernandes.
Drawing from years at the very highest level, McLeod’s philosophy centers around player autonomy, tactical evolution, collaborative staff structures, and building robust team cultures. For experienced coaches, this session provided a rich seam of practical methods and thought-provoking frameworks for high-performance development. Here, we’ll break down the key topics Shane covered, from tactics and player development through to staff dynamics, handling adversity, and building the intangible connections that drive world-class teams.
Setting the Foundation: Tactical Simplicity and Player Maturity
At every level of field hockey, tactical understanding begins early. McLeod described how even with young players, the instinctive “bees to honey” movement around the ball quickly sorts those who begin to grasp concepts like spatial awareness. For coaches, the challenge is to teach tactics in age- and maturity-appropriate stages, keeping things simple but effective. At elite level, McLeod’s own approach is framed around four core areas: pressing (regaining possession), outlet (moving the ball from the back), attack structures, and defending with intent. By anchoring team play on these pillars, coaches can adapt and scale complexity as players progress, always tailoring their approach to both skill and ‘maturity capacity’.
A crucial tactical nuance Shane emphasized is the need to differentiate for those with higher tactical intelligence—designing challenges for team tacticians—while still being directive for those who need clarity and repetition.
The Centrality of One-on-Ones and Player Ownership
A recurring theme throughout McLeod’s methods is frequent, purposeful one-on-one conversations with players. He views these not merely as a means of giving feedback, but as vehicles for genuinely understanding where each athlete stands emotionally, intellectually, and developmentally. For McLeod, the ideal environment is one in which all players are invested in their own journey—athletes who see coaches and staff as resources to be actively drawn upon, rather than passive sources of instruction. This approach feeds into a culture where autonomy is balanced with guidance, and where the team’s collective IQ is built from nuanced understanding of its individuals.
