Prior to the Commonwealth Games (CWG) bronze medal match between England men and South Africa, South Africa coach Iain Shippey posted a story on Instagram (shown below) about England Assistant Coach Kwandwane ‘Kwan’ Browne. It is a story that embodies the values of hockey and of Kwan’s career, where he frequently put the needs and betterment of others before himself.

Incredibly, only two weeks before the CWG, South Africa men’s hockey team did not have a training venue confirmed and their participation hung in the balance. In a last gasp attempt, the team reached out to Kwan to see if he could help, unaware that he was a coach within the England set up. To their amazement, Kwan arranged free accommodation for them at Mill Hill School where he is Director of Hockey. A great act of sportsmanship.

South Africa coach Ian Shippey’s Instagram post on the eve of the England vs South Africa men’s Commonwealth Games bronze medal match, August 2022.

Kwan’s gesture should come as little surprise. The Trinidad & Tobago hockey international earned his first national cap at the age of 14. Aged 19, Kwan moved to England from the Caribbean. He joined Southgate HC, then Canterbury HC earning a place on the 30-man, National Lottery-funded England training roster. Yet Kwan’s integrity, selflessness and big-picture mentality led him to reconsider – those same values that led him to help hockey rivals South Africa this summer:

“I decided I could do a lot more for the game by playing for Trinidad and bringing players over to the UK … How can I make sure my time in the UK has an impact on hockey in Trinidad & Tobago?”

True to this philosophy, Trinidad & Tobago’s most iconic hockey player strove to create an enduring legacy.

Whilst studying at and competing as player coach for London Metropolitan University (LMU), Kwan pushed through a scholarship programme for Trinidadian players which increased in number alongside the team’s success. By the time Kwan left LMU, seventeen hockey scholarships had been taken up by Trinidad & Tobago players. The legacy of his programme saw players and coaches taking home all that they learned in the UK (in hockey and academia) to better the structures and standard of hockey in their homeland.

Kwan would go on to play and/or coach at East Grinstead HC, Hampstead & Westminster HC and, as of May 2022, return to Southgate HC as men’s head coach.

England Hockey’s tweet (below) about Kwan’s CWG gesture went viral and, at the time of writing, has amassed 1,000+ re-tweets and 8,000+ likes.

Credit:
Biographical information from an article in Hockey World News magazine, July 2019 (held digitally in The Hockey Museum’s collection).