Danielle Cranston and Hemant Lala named Head Coaches of the New Zealand Under 21 Womens and Mens Programmes.

Hockey New Zealand has appointed Danielle Cranston and Hemant Lala as the new Head Coaches of the New Zealand Under-21 Women's and Men's programmes, marking the beginning of a new Junior World Cup cycle as the country's next generation of talent sets its sights on the 2027 FIH Junior Hockey World Cups.

The appointments signal the next phase of Hockey New Zealand's Black Sticks pathway, with both programmes beginning preparations for the 2026 Oceania qualifiers in Redcliffe, Australia, where qualification for the 2027 Junior World Cups will be on the line.

Cranston, based in Auckland, brings extensive high-performance coaching experience to the role. She has played a key role within Hockey New Zealand's Black Sticks coaching programme and most recently led the New Zealand A Women's side during the Summer of Hockey series, while also serving as Head Coach of the Mavericks in the 2024 & 2025 Women's Premier Hockey League.

Lala, from Wellington, brings a wealth of domestic and international experience, having taken on the role of assistant coach of the U21s Programme in 2023 and coached Wellington's Women's Tier 1 side, previously led the Capital Men's National Hockey League programme, and worked as a Performance Analyst with the Vantage Black Sticks Men. He is also a Developer within Sport NZ's Coaching for Impact programme.

Hockey New Zealand General Manager of High Performance Simon Brill said the appointments represent an important step in strengthening New Zealand's high-performance pathway.

"These appointments reflect the energy and intent we're putting into our age-group pathway, The Junior World Cups give our players direct exposure to international hockey every two years, and that's exactly the kind of high-quality competition we want to be preparing them for. With the new franchise competitions, the Future Hockey League for Under 18s, the Junior Hockey League for Under 21s, and the Premier Hockey League, we now have a clearer pathway supporting players and associations as they bridge the gap to international performance."

Simon Brill

Both coaches will take charge of their programmes for the first time at the New Zealand Under-21 Selection Camp in Hamilton from 12–17 July.

The camp will bring together approximately 60 of New Zealand's most promising young athletes, with around 30 men and 30 women selected from performances in the Junior Hockey League and other domestic competitions.

The week-long camp will focus on identifying and developing athletes across technical, tactical, physical and behavioural performance areas as Hockey New Zealand begins building squads for the next Junior World Cup cycle.

The New Zealand Under-21 Selection Camp represents the first major milestone of the new cycle and reinforces Hockey New Zealand's commitment to creating a clear, connected pathway for athletes, coaches, managers and performance support staff to progress through the high-performance system.

With qualification for the 2027 FIH Junior Hockey World Cups later this year, the journey starts in Hamilton, where the next generation of Black Sticks will take its first step towards representing New Zealand on the world stage.