Chris Duncan appointed Scotland Senior Women’s Head Coach

Scottish Hockey is delighted to announce that Chris Duncan has been appointed as the Head Coach of Scotland women on a three-year contract.

The former Scotland men’s international will begin in post on January 1st, continuing on from the good work done as interim head coach of the team at the recent FIH World Cup Qualifying Tournament. During the competition in Pisa, in October, the team registered two wins and one draw, while suffering the agony of losing out to Wales in a penalty shoot-out in the semi-final.

Chris Duncan. Head Coach, Scotland Senior Women.
Chris Duncan. Head Coach, Scotland Senior Women.

Duncan said, “It is a real honour to be appointed as the Head Coach of the Scotland women’s team. Having worked with the group since 2019, I have a deep understanding of the potential and quality within the squad, and I am truly humbled to have been entrusted with the responsibility to lead this group into the next chapter. The opportunity to be a part of creating history with this group is hugely exciting, as is the chance to be at the forefront of the push to continue raising the profile of women’s team sport in Scotland.”

He added “I have been fortunate to have such amazing experiences both as a player and coach with Scotland, and I am fully aware of the contribution that our national age-group pathway and domestic league platform have upon the strength of our national teams. I am really looking forward to continuing to build and strengthen those partnerships in the days ahead, with the shared goal of raising the profile of Scotland teams on the world stage and helping further develop the hockey community in Scotland.”

Chris Duncan. When playing as an International for Scotland. Newly appointed: Head Coach, Scotland Senior Women.
Chris Duncan, when playing as an International for Scotland.

Duncan has had a meteoric rise in his coaching career to date, with a stint as Head Coach of Scotland under 16 boys, before being appointed as one of two assistant coaches, along with Vikki Bunce, to previous Head Coach Jen Wilson’s support team in 2019. Following Wilson’s decision not to seek an extension to her four-year tenure, Duncan stepped into the interim head coach’s role with Bunce continuing as his assistant. Duncan is also currently Head Coach of the Inverleith Men’s Team, who play in the Scottish Hockey Premiership.

Duncan will be contracted on a part-time basis, with his role aligning directly with key preparation and competition phases in the international calendar, as well as with regular training camps.

Scottish Hockey’s Head of Performance Andy Tennant said: “We are delighted to have Chris on board as our head coach. He fought-off a very strong field of candidates and impressed us with his strong vision of how he will drive the senior women’s programme towards our goal of world’s top ten. Chris is well known to us as one of a number of bright young coaches in our pathway, and we are delighted to see a product of the Scottish system earn the right to coach Scotland.”

He added “For me, Chris embodies everything we are trying to do in terms of our Brave Blueprint – and we will continue to take a bold approach to developing Scottish athletes and coaches to play our way, and continue our drive up the world rankings. Despite his relative inexperience, Chris has strong coaching attributes, an incredible work ethic, and is always willing to learn. We will continue to work hard to support Chris and his development as a coach – and hopefully his appointment shows there is now a clear pathway for emerging young Scottish coaches to climb the ladder. Finally, it is important that we place on record our thanks to our principal funding partner sportscotland, and Chris’s employer The Edinburgh Academy, for their support in making this happen.”

Chris Duncan. Head Coach, Scotland Senior Women.

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