Coach Profile – Morné Odendaal (St Anne’s)
“My biggest why in coaching is, I want to play a significant role in someone’s life for the future. The ideal is not for me to go to Olympic Games, but it’s for me one day, when I’m at a mini-hockey day, and one of my ex-players sees me from a distance, where their kids are playing, and they just want to come to introduce their kids to me and tell them that this person played a massive role in their life. That is my ideal. That is my life made.” – Morné Odendaal
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The trainwreck and the perfect match. Those are the two matches they train for. All of them will watch from the sidelines while their charges try to implement training ground strategies to diffuse a hopeless situation, while only a few ever get to witness a perfect match.
Morné Odendaal was one of the lucky ones. In 2022, he watched his charges take to the field in the last match of the hockey season, the final of the Fairtree Super 12 Tournament, and pull off the perfect performance.
It wasn’t flawless. they are human, but they seized control of the contest and played like seasoned professionals. They passed crisply, got into good positions, supported each other with and without the ball, and the result told the story; Oranje beat Eunice 3-1 to claim the title. It was his 36th win in 38 attempts in first team girls’ tournaments as the head coach of Oranje.
It was the end of an era, the closing of a decade that had begun in 2013, and returned a dynastic 380 wins in 400 matches.
Oranje was so dominant that at one time they went for 1007 days without a defeat, recording an otherworldly 127-match winning streak. At the end of his tenure, Oranje had recorded more draws, 11, than their nine losses.
“The Super 12 final was a poignant moment that filled me with emotions and pride for my players,” Odendaal said.
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Morné Odendaal has always felt at home on the sidelines. That is where his hockey journey began. He used to accompany his mother, Elsie Coetzer, on her coaching missions when he was around three or four years old. His time there was divided between watching in awe as his mother helped future stars with their game and trying to perform the movements he saw with a stick and ball.
He joined the kids on the field to train with the grade ones when he was around five years old and that was followed by an introduction to mini hockey on Saturdays. Odendaal has fond memories of gleefully taking on his mates on frosty Astros in the Bloemfontein winter.
“I remember Mom coaching us from grade one to four and we were exceptionally good. We were able to move the ball around, pass the ball, and score a lot of goals and that was a lot of fun,” Odendaal recalled.
A stand-out moment from his early years was an u10 tour to KwaZulu-Natal. The fun began on the bus. The coaches and chaperones allowed them the grace to be kids, and they bonded over fun games and laughing at each other’s silliness until the drinks they were consuming came out through their noses.
“The journey was a lot of fun. We went to the beach, where we played with shaving cream. The camaraderie from that tournament was awesome and it added to the fun for me,” he recalled.
However, the most fun came on the Astro. Their team was well-drilled and swept all their matches. The icing on the cake for Odendaal was meeting former South African hockey star and now coach, Greg Nicol, the tournament’s top goal scorer at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, after one of their contests at Kingsmead.
His early years created a perfect springboard for a successful hockey career, and, by his own admission, Odendaal could have been an outstanding hockey player. He had absorbed his mother’s natural gifts as a player. Skills came easily to him, and he had a good tactical eye that allowed him to get into good positions. But he did not do justice to his potential.
“I possessed natural talent but initially lacked the dedication required. My inclination to seek shortcuts taught me valuable lessons that now inform my coaching philosophy. Today, I prioritise creating environments where players can thrive and achieve their full potential,” he explained.
However, his approach did not hinder him too much. Odendaal performed well enough to break into the Grey College first team as a young player, representing the side for three years, and also turning out for the Free State at SASHOC Inter-Provincial Tournaments at u13, u16, and u18 level.
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He had no desire to be a cookie-cutter type of coach. From the time Odendaal chose to pursue the craft, he was determined to not be another version of the coaches that came before him. He learned from them but wanted to chart his own path
“I decided from a young age, I wanted to go my own route and form my own identity in my coaching,” he said.
He gleaned a lot from the various coaches who crossed his path in his youth, in particular Braam van Wyk and Des Donald, who played a big part in his life at school and university. He also learned a lot through observation.
“A lot of international teams came to train at Kovsies, the University of the Free State, and I went to watch all their sessions. I sat there the whole day watching the Germans, the Dutch, England, and Argentina, train every single day for three weeks. I learned so much,” Odendaal explained.
He took notes on everything he watched, repurposed their ideas, and put his own spin on them to make them his own. It was a crash course in effective coaching, and he passed with flying colours. To achieve that, he did all the things he did not do as a player. He applied himself and did a lot of extra work.
The fire to walk the extra mile in the service of hockey was lit in 2010 when he observed that first-team girls’ hockey had numerous areas that needed improvement. Instead of simply talking about it and waiting for someone to take action, he decided to find a space to fill and create the change he wanted to see.
“I aimed to elevate the game and enhance team performances.
“Whether it’s at Oranje or St Anne’s, kids are kids. They’ve got the same enthusiasm. They’ve got the same will to win and want to be the best that they possibly can be.
“I am there to help them be the best person or the best version of themselves. I can only do that by helping them to add skills to their lives that they’re able to use one day when they’re older, in their work, and also in their relationships,” Odendaal explained.
A lot of the work to develop young athletes to be the best they can be revolves around discipline and structure. However, Odendaal doesn’t limit his instruction to that side of sport. He is deeply passionate about the mental side of high-performance in sports. He is a big proponent of getting sportspeople in the right mindset for them to excel.
He doesn’t limit his work in this sphere to the girls he coaches at St Anne’s or KZN Inland. He also works with athletes in other codes.
“Before I started with him, I didn’t believe in myself. I didn’t think I deserved some of the wins. Then, when he started coaching me, I started to believe and trust myself. This helped me in my performance in ASA and also Nationals. It helped me to really do my best,” Isobel Orji attested after winning SA Athletics u15 100 and 200-metre gold medals this year.
Odendaal’s charges can only be the best they can be if they embrace the concept of continuous improvement, and he drills that into them. But he doesn’t just talk about the concept, he lives it. He is forever evolving as a coach, adding new tools to his toolbox.
He has set his sights high. “My ultimate goal is to leave a lasting legacy as one of the greatest coaches to ever do it. When I’m done, it’s so important to me that I sit back and know that I played a role in making hockey in this country better,” Odendaal revealed.
Those feelings are what drove him when he started, and they still drive him now. They are the reasons why he embraces challenges.
When he is not evolving on the sidelines, he is continually growing, becoming a better husband to his wife and a better father to his two children than he was the day before.
“I am the coach I am because of my wife. She supports me immensely in my goals and dreams. Our two children are my pride and joy,” Odendaal shared.
