On 15 March, I was back behind the wheel of my trusty old Vauxhall Corsa; nine hours out of the house, eight and a bit in the car, 373 miles… all for a chance to fulfil another my challenges.
The destination was Leicester Grammar School, the event was a hugely important clash between the Leicester and Reading ladies hockey teams, but the real reason was an opportunity to meet those members of the two sides who had been part of the GB Olympic squad that had won a bronze medal at London 2012.
My sporting prowess (limited as it was) lay on a cricket field, but I played a fair bit of hockey at school—only muddy and bumpy pitches back then. I did have a reasonable goal scoring record in inter-school matches, although it became less impressive when you took out the deflections past my own goalkeeper! I was once accused of playing hockey like a cricketer—an inference I angrily rejected by flicking a free hit through square leg for four….
Anyway… back in 1988, I made a point of getting up at some unearthly hour to watch the wonderful and captivating exploits of the GB men’s hockey squad out in Seoul, which culminated in a dramatic semi-final victory over Australia, and a classic gold medal-winning performance in the final against the Germans: Where were they? “Frankly, who cares?!”
The progress of the ladies’ class of 2012 was equally compelling, but a heart-breaking semi-final defeat to Argentina, left the team needing to beat New Zealand to secure the bronze medal. The game was scoreless at half time, but three goals in fairly quick succession in the second period, all from penalty corners gave the girls an unassailable lead and the intense disappointment of the previous game was replaced by elation as the reality of their collective achievement sank in.
It was a wonderful sporting moment, but before Elaine and I could meet some of those involved in person, we had to actually get to Leicester. Our trek south was slowed by constant speed restrictions, stopped altogether by a bloody traffic jam, and pleasantly interrupted by a live interview for BBC Radio Leicester, which was conducted on a side road just off the M1 near Denby Dale (I think!).
We finally arrived at the school and found the pitch (not muddy and not bumpy), the best part of five hours after we’d left home. There were less than ten minutes remaining, the scoreline was 2-1 in favour of the visitors, and that’s how it stayed.
The opportunity to meet and be pictured with the two Leicester players and the three from Reading who had been members of the GB Olympic squad was kindly arranged by Sarah Treanor, The only problem was that Nicola White and Hannah MacLeod had literally just finished on the losing side in a vital game, and even though they knew I was coming, I’m sure the last thing they wanted to do was stand with some old bloke they’d never met before and smile for a camera.
But they were lovely. They chatted away, and even brought along their medals for me to see—and put round my neck. The medals are surprisingly heavy... a comment that has been aimed at me down the years, and it was so kind of them to set aside their understandable disappointment and help make the day so memorable.
I then had the chance to talk (and be photographed) with Reading’s Alex Danson, Emily Maguire and GB captain Kate Richardson-Walsh. For the pictures with the Reading trio, I was wearing Alex’s medal, which had emerged from a sock that had been thrown down from the balcony!
The journey north was thankfully much quicker, and we got home about half past seven—or wine o’clock as it’s more commonly known. It was an incredibly long day, almost nine hours on the road for twenty minutes in the company of five people I hadn’t met before… but it was definitely worth it!
In truth, the extent of the definition of “worth it” probably didn’t become evident until August 2016 when four of those athletes (the exception being Emily Maguire) went to Rio de Janeiro as part of the Team GB Olympic squad—and returned with a gold medal (sixteen gold medals to be precise).
Right from the opening pool game, a 2-1 win over perennial rivals Australia, there was just a sense that something special… almost magical was about to happen. The British girls took a 100% record into the knockout stages before beating Spain (comfortably) and New Zealand (superbly). Their opponents in the final were the Netherlands (ranked no.1 in the world and reigning Olympic champions—GB were ranked no.7). The Dutch dominated the game, but Kate Richardson-Walsh and her players defended so well and Nicola White’s late goal brought the scores level at 3-3 to ensure the goal medal would be decided by a penalty shoot-out.
Enter Team GB goalkeeper Maddie Hinch….
The Dutch tried to score past her four times; four times they failed. Helen Richardson-Walsh converted a penalty stroke after Sophie Bray had been upended in the circle, before Hollie Webb turned and drilled our fifth effort between the legs of the Dutch goalkeeper and into the net to complete the most amazing sporting drama, and spark some of the most wonderful joyous emotional celebrations I have ever seen.
The destination was Leicester Grammar School, the event was a hugely important clash between the Leicester and Reading ladies hockey teams, but the real reason was an opportunity to meet those members of the two sides who had been part of the GB Olympic squad that had won a bronze medal at London 2012.
My sporting prowess (limited as it was) lay on a cricket field, but I played a fair bit of hockey at school—only muddy and bumpy pitches back then. I did have a reasonable goal scoring record in inter-school matches, although it became less impressive when you took out the deflections past my own goalkeeper! I was once accused of playing hockey like a cricketer—an inference I angrily rejected by flicking a free hit through square leg for four….
Anyway… back in 1988, I made a point of getting up at some unearthly hour to watch the wonderful and captivating exploits of the GB men’s hockey squad out in Seoul, which culminated in a dramatic semi-final victory over Australia, and a classic gold medal-winning performance in the final against the Germans: Where were they? “Frankly, who cares?!”
The progress of the ladies’ class of 2012 was equally compelling, but a heart-breaking semi-final defeat to Argentina, left the team needing to beat New Zealand to secure the bronze medal. The game was scoreless at half time, but three goals in fairly quick succession in the second period, all from penalty corners gave the girls an unassailable lead and the intense disappointment of the previous game was replaced by elation as the reality of their collective achievement sank in.
It was a wonderful sporting moment, but before Elaine and I could meet some of those involved in person, we had to actually get to Leicester. Our trek south was slowed by constant speed restrictions, stopped altogether by a bloody traffic jam, and pleasantly interrupted by a live interview for BBC Radio Leicester, which was conducted on a side road just off the M1 near Denby Dale (I think!).
We finally arrived at the school and found the pitch (not muddy and not bumpy), the best part of five hours after we’d left home. There were less than ten minutes remaining, the scoreline was 2-1 in favour of the visitors, and that’s how it stayed.
The opportunity to meet and be pictured with the two Leicester players and the three from Reading who had been members of the GB Olympic squad was kindly arranged by Sarah Treanor, The only problem was that Nicola White and Hannah MacLeod had literally just finished on the losing side in a vital game, and even though they knew I was coming, I’m sure the last thing they wanted to do was stand with some old bloke they’d never met before and smile for a camera.
But they were lovely. They chatted away, and even brought along their medals for me to see—and put round my neck. The medals are surprisingly heavy... a comment that has been aimed at me down the years, and it was so kind of them to set aside their understandable disappointment and help make the day so memorable.
I then had the chance to talk (and be photographed) with Reading’s Alex Danson, Emily Maguire and GB captain Kate Richardson-Walsh. For the pictures with the Reading trio, I was wearing Alex’s medal, which had emerged from a sock that had been thrown down from the balcony!
The journey north was thankfully much quicker, and we got home about half past seven—or wine o’clock as it’s more commonly known. It was an incredibly long day, almost nine hours on the road for twenty minutes in the company of five people I hadn’t met before… but it was definitely worth it!
In truth, the extent of the definition of “worth it” probably didn’t become evident until August 2016 when four of those athletes (the exception being Emily Maguire) went to Rio de Janeiro as part of the Team GB Olympic squad—and returned with a gold medal (sixteen gold medals to be precise).
Right from the opening pool game, a 2-1 win over perennial rivals Australia, there was just a sense that something special… almost magical was about to happen. The British girls took a 100% record into the knockout stages before beating Spain (comfortably) and New Zealand (superbly). Their opponents in the final were the Netherlands (ranked no.1 in the world and reigning Olympic champions—GB were ranked no.7). The Dutch dominated the game, but Kate Richardson-Walsh and her players defended so well and Nicola White’s late goal brought the scores level at 3-3 to ensure the goal medal would be decided by a penalty shoot-out.
Enter Team GB goalkeeper Maddie Hinch….
The Dutch tried to score past her four times; four times they failed. Helen Richardson-Walsh converted a penalty stroke after Sophie Bray had been upended in the circle, before Hollie Webb turned and drilled our fifth effort between the legs of the Dutch goalkeeper and into the net to complete the most amazing sporting drama, and spark some of the most wonderful joyous emotional celebrations I have ever seen.
