Brian Glencross OAM was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1991 as a General Member for his contribution to coaching the sport of hockey.
As a player Glencross represented Australia from 1964 to 1974, played in 93 games, and competed in three Olympics, winning bronze in 1964, silver in 1968 and competed in 1972. He captained the Australian team from 1968 to 1973 and coached the Australian women’s hockey team from 1980 until 1992.
As national and AIS head coach, Glencross began a re-building program. Particular attention was paid to the development of juniors and the training of coaches. Apart from the specialised programs for the national squad, he travelled to all states conducting coaching seminars and clinics with emphasis on the development of potential and talented players.
Under his guidance, the team had outstanding results. In 1981 the team won gold in the America’s Cup and in 1983 they won bronze in the World Cup. In the first Women’s Champions Trophy Tournament in 1987, they won silver, and in 1988 they won gold in the Six Nations Bicentennial Tournament in Perth. In 1990 they won gold in the World Cup.
However, the pinnacle of Glencross’ coaching career came in 1988, where the team took gold at the Seoul Olympics.
In the 80s, a rule at the time stated that only playing members of the team can receive a medal. If there were others in the team who had not had any match time, then they didn’t receive a medal.
At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Glencross assumed this rule had been changed. When he discovered it hadn’t, Glencross faced one of the toughest moments in his career. There were some players who hadn’t been on the field for the entire tournament. He made the decision to take the world’s best goalkeeper, Kathy Partridge, from the field in the middle of the gold medal final just to give Maree Fish some game time, even just a few seconds. The decision paid off and the team walked away with gold.
Honours & Achievements
1990: Awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his services to hockey
