June 2011 For immediate release World Cup call for Coach of the Year

A member of staff at Leeds Metropolitan University has been selected by the England Hockey Board to represent the country in the forthcoming Home Nations, European Cup and World Cup masters teams.

Bobby Bhogal, an Analyst Programmer at the University, was crowned Coach of the Year at the British Asian Sports Awards in March and attended a Prime Ministers reception as a result. Bobby was nominated for the hard work and determination showed through coaching his daughter, Ashpal Kaur, 16, who last year became the first Sikh female to be called up to any England hockey set up. Bobby commented: I am absolutory delighted that I can again wear the three lions and in all three major t ournaments. The European Cup will be good test for us as we will be up against teams such as Spain, Netherlands, France, Germany, Russia, Belgium and Ireland. Englands group consists of Ireland, Germany and Netherlands. For us all the games will be toug h but if we stick to our strengths and game plan we should do well.

The World Cup in Singapore will be challenging enough due to the climate. The top sides are competing for the Hockey Masters World Cup and England will come up against Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore and Korea in their group. This again will be heavily fought and England will be looking to get a medal. I will be playing in honor of Shamira Grant, the daughter of my close friend who recently died.

Bobby was part of the England Hockey masters team who triumphed in the Four Nations Plus Tournament last year. His next goal is to compete at the 2012 Olympic Masters hockey tournament.

Ends

For further details please contact Carrie Braithwaite in the News and Media team at Leeds Met on 0113 812 3022 or email c.braithwaite@leedsmet.ac.uk
Notes for editors: y y

Leeds Metropolitan University has 30,000 students and 3, 000 staff. The University has achieved its best ever Research Assessment Exercise results. Sports-Related Studies is in the top 6 institutions in the country with research rated at the highest levels of 4* and 3*.

Leeds Met has been rated the top university in the U K for its language support, accommodation quality and learning spaces in the 2010 Autumn Wave of the International Student Barometer and sixth in the world for the quality of its lectures.

The

Universitys

award-winning

learning

environments

include

Broadcasting Place, voted the best tall building in the world in 2010 by the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) and also winner of the 2010 Leeds Architecture Awards New Building category, the iconic Rose Bowl building, awarded Bes t Commercial Property Development in the 2009 Yorkshire Property Awards and the pioneering Carnegie Village student accommodation.
y

Leeds Metropolitan is one of only a handful of UK universities to have been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard.