Melody Cooper

Melody Cooper

Cooper at the 2012 London Olympics
Personal information
Born (1983-03-16) 16 March 1983
New Plymouth, New Zealand
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Playing position Defence / Midfield
National team
2001–present New Zealand 48 (1)
Last updated on: 16 August 2012 (national)[2][3]

Melody Cooper (née Rowe, born 16 March 1983) is a New Zealand field hockey player.[4] She has played in the midfield and defence positions. She played club hockey in New Zealand and in South Australia before representing New Zealand at the 2012 London Olympics.

Personal

Melody is married to former Adelaide 36ers basketballer David Cooper (basketball) and lives in Adelaide with their son. [5]

Field Hockey

Player

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, she competed for the New Zealand women's national field hockey team in the women's event.[6] She played under coach Mark Hager where she was part of the team that defeated the Australian Hockeyroos (Australia women's national field hockey team) 1-0 in the opening game and went on to finish fourth.[7]

In 2011, Melody captained the Southern Suns team from South Australia to victory in the Australian Hockey League championship in Darwin. [8]

Coach

Melody coached Adelaide Hockey Club in 2012, 2013 and 2014 in the men’s premier league competition in South Australia. The team steadily improved year on year to finish second in 2014, losing in the final to Seacliff. [9]

In 2014, Melody became the first woman to lead-coach a men’s team in the Australian Hockey League with the Southern Hotshots. She was co-head coach with Mark Victory, older brother of Craig Victory. The Hotshots went on to finish a disappointing 8th after leading the eventual champion Tasmania 3-1 at three quarter time in their opening match - a match that finished in a draw. [10]

Recognition

In 2014, she was named as Coach of the Year by Hockey SA in the South Australian Premier League Competition. [9]

References

  1. ↑ "Melody Cooper - London 2012 Olympics". Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  2. ↑ "New Zealand Hockey Representatives - Women" (PDF). Hockey New Zealand. 16 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  3. ↑ "New Zealand Goal Scorers - Women" (PDF). Hockey New Zealand. 16 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  4. ↑ "Melody Cooper - Hockey New Zealand". Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  5. ↑ "Adelaide hockey star Melody Cooper shows her true Kiwi colours". Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  6. ↑ London2012.com
  7. ↑ "Black Sticks defeat Australia in first match". Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "Melody Cooper Profile". Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  9. 1 2 "Hockey SA Medal Count". Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "2014 AHL Teams Named". Retrieved 1 November 2014.


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