The former New Zealand hockey international Darren Smith has been named the new head coach of the men's Black Sticks.
Smith replaces Colin Batch who stood down from the role in December to head home to coach the Australian men's team.
Smith, played 212 tests for New Zealand between 1995 and 2006.
He was assistant coach of the Black Sticks Men from 2007 - 2012 before leading the Ireland Women's programme as head coach from 2012 - 2015.
Darren Smith has been appointed coach of the men's Black Sticks. Photo: Photosport
Smith is excited to take on the head coach role.
"It's been something I've thought about for 20 odd years and a lot of my life choices have been moulded towards one day being in this role," he said.
"The Blacks Sticks programme is something I'm hugely passionate about and I think it's in great shape with plenty of potential to do even better.
"Hockey is on a high all around the world at the moment and to have both our Black Sticks teams ranked in the world's top eight is a huge achievement.
"I'm really looking forward to getting in and spending time with the players, getting a depth of knowledge within the programme and getting started on the pitch.
Smith comes to the role having been high performance director at Softball New Zealand.
Smith will take up the role next week with the major focus for the men's team the World League Semi Final in Johannesburg in July which serves as a dual qualification World League Final as well as next year's World Cup.
