The 24-year-old Southern Storm defender has been charged with developing the game's grass roots and has been in the role for about a month.
''It's a new role so I'm just sort of finding my feet,'' she said.
''[Hockey] has been going pretty well in the region. It just needs a bit more publicity to make everyone aware of it.
''It could do with some more TV time [nationally] but definitely in Otago our school teams are doing really, really well at the moment.''
The sport has been on the rise in the South for the past few years.
The Southern Dogs have led the charge with appearances in the final in 2012 and 2013.
They made the semifinal this year, where they were eliminated by their old nemesis Auckland, which went on to win the title for the third consecutive year - fourth if you count the title it shared with Central in 2011.
The talented home-grown quartet of Hugo Inglis, Blair Tarrant, Nick Ross and Kane Russell have gone on to play for the Black Sticks.
And this year, St Hilda's Collegiate made the final of the Federation Cup, the elite girls secondary schools tournament.
They lost 1-0 to Wairarapa College but Polly Inglis - Hugo's sister - was outstanding, while striker Pip Dingle and defender Annabel Girvan were hugely impressive.
Dougherty's challenge is to uncover and upskill the next group of players coming through.
A big part of her job is to reach out to the schools in the region and make sure they have the resources and support they need.
''I'm trying to get feedback and find out what we can do better, what has been done in the past and what they want to see.''
She has started planning a coaching clinic for January and hopes to get some ''have a go days'' in place by February.
''We have an `in schools' programme run by Small Sticks and it's a programme where you sign your school up and get four sessions of coaching each year, some coaching for the teachers and you also get 30 balls and 30 sticks to take away for your school.''
It is a three-year programme that carries a ''small charge''.
About 15 schools in Otago have embraced the programme and she is hoping to bring more schools into it.
Dougherty is from the Maniototo region - hockey country - and grew up playing the game. Her grandmother, Carol, had a trial for the New Zealand team and played for Maniototo during its successful K Cup era.
Maniototo won the cup three times between 1957 and 1964.
Carol Dougherty also represented Otago in the discus.
Tory Dougherty's great-great-uncle, Tommy Griffiths, boxed for New Zealand.
