Robert "Herbie" Haigh is a former

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

player from Australia. He was a three-time Olympian, who won two Olympic silver medals as a member of the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

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and the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada. He also competed at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, where the Australian team finished fifth. Since retiring as a player, he has worked closely with the Australian men's and women's national programs as an assistant coach and senior selector. He also spent a number of years as the

South Australian Sports Institute Sport plays an important role in the business, community, social and cultural life in the state of South Australia. Sport as entertainment plays an important role with South Australia, in 2007 having the second highest rate of event attendance ...

head coach in charge of the men's and women's elite programs, and the Australian Hockey League coach of the SA Hotshots. He was an assistant coach to

Ric Charlesworth Richard Ian Charlesworth AO (born 6 February 1952) is an Australian sports coach and former politician. He played first-class cricket for Western Australia and international field hockey for the Kookaburras (the Australian national team), win ...

with the Australian women's team, the

Hockeyroos The Australia women's national field hockey team (nicknamed the Hockeyroos) are, as of August 2023, ranked second in the world. Having played their first game in 1914, and their first Olympic game in 1984, they are one of Australia's most succes ...

, during the golden era of Australian women's hockey and in 2010 was a selector for the men's national team, the

Kookaburras Kookaburras (pronounced ) are terrestrial tree kingfishers of the genus ''Dacelo'' native to Australia and New Guinea, which grow to between in length and weigh around . The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri ''guuguubarra'', onomatopoeic o ...

. He was inducted into the Australian Hockey Hall of Fame in 20082008 Hall of Fame Inductees
and

South Australian Sport Hall of Fame Sport plays an important role in the business, community, social and cultural life in the state of South Australia. Sport as entertainment plays an important role with South Australia, in 2007 having the second highest rate of event attendance ...

in 2011.

Playing hockey

Club hockey

Haigh played with the Woodville Hockey Club in South Australia, where he is a life member and vice patron. The reserve on which the Woodville clubrooms and pitch are located are named after him. He was the Best & Fairest player in the men's competition in 1965, 1968, 1969 and 1970.

National hockey

Haigh represented South Australia in the senior hockey team from 1964 to 1976.

International hockey

Haigh played 106 tests as a member of the Australian men's hockey team from 1966 to 1976, was vice captain from 1969 to 1974 and captain in 1975–1976. He competed in three Olympics, won two silver Olympic medals with the team at the 1968 and 1976 Summer Olympic Games and was the official flag carrier for Australia at the closing ceremony of the 1976 Games in Montreal. Haigh also competed at two World Cups: Barcelona in 1971 and Kuala Lumpur in 1975 (captain).

Coaching hockey

Local and national

Haigh coached the SA Senior Men to a national championship in 1980. He was

hockey coach from 2001 to 2006 and

Hockey SA ''Hockey'' is a family of stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, and playing surface. ...

hockey development manager before that from 1991 to 1997, coaching numerous state junior teams in that time.

International

Haigh was an assistant coach for the

Australia women's national field hockey team The Australia women's national field hockey team (nicknamed the Hockeyroos) are, as of August 2023, ranked second in the world. Having played their first game in 1914, and their first Olympic game in 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984, they are one of A ...

, the Hockeyroos under head coach

from 1997 to 2000 during which time they achieved the following results *Gold medal at the

1998 women's Hockey World Cup The 1998 Women's Hockey World Cup was the ninth edition of the Women's Hockey World Cup field hockey tournament. It was held from 20 to 31 May 1998 in Utrecht, Netherlands alongside the men's tournament. Australia won its second world title af ...

*Gold medal at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ( Malay: ), officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games (Malay: ), were a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 1998 games were the first held in Asia and the last Commonwealth Games of the 20th cen ...

*Gold medal at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

in Sydney. He was also a selector for

Australia men's national field hockey team The Australia men's national field hockey team (nicknamed the Kookaburras) is one of the nation's most successful top-level sporting teams. They are the only Australian team in any sport to receive medals at six straight Summer Olympic Games (19 ...

, the Kookaburras, from 2009 to 2014. Haigh was the Fiji National Coach in 1981. In 2008 he was inducted into the Australian Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2011, he was inducted into the South Australian Sport Hall of Fame.

Awards and recognition

*1965: The Advertiser Trophy for Best and Fairest in A1 Grade *1968-70: The Advertiser Trophy for Best and Fairest in A1 Grade *Life Member and Vice Patron - Woodville Hockey Club *Life Member - Hockey SA *2008: Inaugural Member of the Australian Hockey Hall of Fame *2011: Member of the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haigh, Robert 1945 births Living people Australian male field hockey players Olympic field hockey players for Australia Olympic silver medalists for Australia Field hockey players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Field hockey players at the 1976 Summer Olympics Field hockey players from Adelaide Olympic medalists in field hockey Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic coaches for Australia South Australian Sports Institute coaches Sportsmen from South Australia 20th-century Australian sportsmen