I spend most of the time in a helmet so to be recognised is weird, surreal…exciting
The 2016 Olympic hockey champion nicknamed Mad Dog for her reckless bravery in goal tells PAUL BROWN why she believes taking time out from the sport to go scuba diving after her Rio heroics has helped extend her career.
QHOW HAS YOUR LIFE CHANGED SINCE THE RIO OLYMPICS?
AI’m not stopped in the street as a super-famous person but life changed dramatically. For someone who spends most of their time in a helmet it was quite weird to be recognised as much as I was. Life is very different. It’s mad. Surreal. And super exciting. I had no idea hockey even existed when I was 12. I think kids are much more aware now and they can see what we did in Rio and want to go and emulate it.
QYOU WALKED AWAY FROM THE SPORT BECAUSE IT WAS AFFECTING YOUR MENTAL HEALTH. DO YOU FEEL RE-ENERGISED NOW YOU’RE BACK?
AYes. Massively. I was at a pretty low point in my career. But I’m so glad I stepped away. I’d worked so hard to get to where I was. You don’t get that No1 shirt lightly. I knew I was opening the door for someone else. But I was so unhappy and done with the sport. I was just fed up. But I feel the energy is back now. I’ve a better perspective on things, whereas when you are in that headspace it’s all kind of dark and you can’t see any positives in anything.
QYOU SAVED ALL FOUR PENALTIES IN THE 2016 FINAL AGAINST HOLLAND AND BECAME A NATIONAL HERO. DID YOU REALLY CONSIDER QUITTING FOR GOOD?
AI would probably have called it a day last year. Something had to change. It was Rio. I would not change that night for the world but it flung me into the limelight and I felt I needed to be at that level all the time. It was portrayed as a superhuman performance but that was absolutely not the case. I carried the weight of it everywhere. It’s tiring. I was trying to be faultless 24-7. I burnt out, basically. I’m grateful to everyone who supported me and allowed me to make this as smooth as possible because I think it should give me a slightly longer career.
QWHAT DID YOU DO DURING THE BREAK AND HOW DID IT HELP?
AI had 12 weeks off. The longest I’d had out of my pads was three weeks in 10 years. I took myself off to Australia for six of them by myself. I wanted to go diving. I took myself round the Great Barrier Reef on a liveaboard and drove up and down the coast in a camper. It was scary how much I was enjoying not playing hockey. But I remember on that trip I started to tune in to what the girls were doing. I wanted to know. Before, I had no interest. Then I started to miss it.
QNOW YOU’RE BACK, AND GB HAVE QUALIFIED FOR THE 2020 OLYMPICS, ARE YOU ALREADY THINKING ABOUT TRYING TO WIN ANOTHER GOLD?
AThe return has been quite challenging. But I can see the bigger picture now. I’ve come back to help this group compete for another medal in Tokyo. We’re in a very different place to the Rio group. That group had so much more experience of not qualifying for the Olympics. To back up Rio with another medal would be great, and then I can sit back and watch this group go on from my granny chair.
QWHAT DOES WOMEN’S SPORT NEED TO LEARN TO CONTINUE THE GROWTH YOU’VE SEEN RECENTLY?
AWe’re still fighting for our position on the world stage and have a long way to go. But we’ve hosted World Cups in hockey, netball and cricket, and participation rocketed after all three. You could probably walk down the street and ask someone to name a female hockey player, and they probably could. That’s what’s exciting. We have to have consistent exposure instead of having these moments and then it goes quiet again. We are very good at bringing in the crowds for big events and people want to come and see us, which is great. But it’s the domestic club games that are more important. Our domestic league is so far behind that level. Until we get the funding for the infrastructure and the TV rights and to put stands in, it’s going to be hard.
● MADDIE HINCH was speaking at a TeamUp event in London aimed at increasing the number of young girls playing team sport in schools by maximising the legacy of hosting three home World Cups from 2017 to 2019. London schools can apply for free support at www.teamupengland.com