Olympian and former England and Great Britain Hockey captain David Ames has been appointed as assistant coach of the women’s programme. 

Ames brings a wealth of elite international experience to the role, having represented Great Britain at three Olympic Games and captained both England and Great Britain during a distinguished playing career.  

Ames captained England to a historic silver at the 2023 EuroHockey Championships and was an official Team England ambassador at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. 

Since ending his playing career, Ames has worked on a part-time basis within the central programme and supported the England men’s team at the FIH Hockey Pro League and the World Cup. 

Ames will work closely with coaching team and the new women’s Head Coach, bringing together a coaching team with significant international playing and coaching experience. 

The appointment marks Ames’ next step in coaching following the conclusion of his international playing career, during which he earned more than 145 combined caps, competed at Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympic Games. 

David Ames said: “It’s a huge honour to be working in this role with the women’s programme. I’m very grateful for the opportunity from the staff and players and I’m excited to be involved moving into the second part of our Olympic cycle.  

“The group has an amazing opportunity to build their own history and achieve something special together. My aim is to help this group get better every day, raise our performance standards and build a team capable of competing for medals in LA28. I’m very excited by that challenge and doing what I can to help this group achieve its goals.” 

Bobby Crutchley, England and GB Hockey Performance Director, said: “We are delighted to welcome David into the coaching team. While he is at the beginning of his coaching journey, he has already demonstrated many of the qualities that make outstanding coaches: a genuine passion for helping players improve, a curious and thoughtful approach to learning, and a strong understanding of what it takes to build and sustain high performance. 

“David’s experience of performing and leading at the highest level of the international game, combined with his potential as a coach, will be a tremendous asset to the programme as we build towards LA 2028. We are excited to see him take this next step in his development and make a significant contribution to the women’s programme.” 

England and GB Hockey are now in the process of appointing a new Head Coach to lead the women’s programme through the next phase of the LA 2028 Olympic cycle.  

Further details will be announced in due course.