PIETIE COETZEE

Field hockey is still a growing sport in Africa,?but South African sporting legend Pietie Coetzee is intent on changing this, by carefully introducing the sport across the continent.

Coetzee is a retired field hockey player who made a name for herself in the nineties as the youngest player to represent Africa when she made her international senior debut for the South African Women?s team in 1995. Two years later, she was named the South African Hockey Player of the Year in 1997, and again in 2002. She still holds the World Record for the most international goals by any female player in the history of the game, and was named Sportswoman of the Year for four consecutive years (2000-2003) by Rand Afrikaans University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in sport psychology.

Coetzee recently established PC15, a brand which represents her life after the game and her brand as a coach, public speaker and a businesswoman. PC15 developed from the Pietie Coetzee Hockey Clinics which are meant to give young people in South Africa the opportunity to learn hockey skills that are used at an international level without having to travel overseas. Coetzee?s reach extends to individuals and groups in rural areas where she works with schools who normally wouldn?t have access to resources as a result of financial and geographical constraints.

During Coetzee?s career as a player, she represented South Africa in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. She was also the top goal scorer at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and the 2003 World Cup in Perth, Australia.

Image:?PC15