Sticking up for hockey
Wilson convinced women’s sport can keep on inspiring
AGOLDEN summer of sport, significantly brightened by the exploits of women performers, has raised a series of questions that may be answered in the compact form of a 5ft 5in elite coach.
Jen Wilson has lived a life that has met and then overcome the challenges of seeking to forge a path for women’s sport, particularly the branch that is hampered by the perception it is a minority activity. She has been asked the questions but has found the answers.
Wilson, at 40, can be described simply but accurately as a hockey legend. The South African has represented her country in three Olympic Games, three Commonwealth Games and a trio of World Cups.
Her extensive coaching career is dotted with considerable success in both the men’s and women’s games in England, where she operates from her home base in Canterbury. She now seeks to take Scotland back to the top table of the game.
She has, though, already provided compelling evidence that part-time athletes can compete with the best, that there is a way for a sport to elbow its way into an arena packed with other activities and, crucially, that women can coach men’s teams with success.
Wilson coached the Ashford men’s 1st XI in the Kent/Sussex and South Premier League for seven seasons. ‘It was brilliant, a fantastic opportunity for me,’ she says. ‘It was a different environment for me, having worked with young teams and ladies teams. It is a different dynamic, too.’
Is there a difference in coaching men rather than women? ‘There are certain elements that might be a little bit different but it is more about the individual,’ she says. ‘Male and female athletes need individual support. So all coaching is more specific to the person than the gender.’
She adds of women coaching men: ‘I think this model will exist more and more down the line. It doesn’t really matter if the coach is male or female. As long as there is respect, there can be very successful partnerships. We will see it more and more.’
Did she find any opposition to her as a coach at Ashford because of her sex? ‘No, they were a great group of guys who were really keen to progress,’ says Wilson. ‘They were the first to look out for me.
‘Opposition teams sometimes did not often see a female coach on the sidelines but, if there were any comments, the boys would gather round and try to protect me. Not that I needed protected.’
The last sentence is said quietly but speaks strongly of who Wilson is. She is, after all, a woman who has pursued her ambitions successfully from an early age.
‘I was about seven when I first picked up a stick,’ she says. ‘I come from a springboard diving family.
‘They were my two sports growing up so I had to juggle both of them till I had to make a decision on what to do when I was 17 or 18. My love was always more for the team sport. I love being around team-mates, committing to a team environment.’
She went on to compete for South Africa in three Olympic Games: 2004 in Athens; 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London. She played 180 times as a forward for South Africa, scoring 65 goals before retiring from international duty after the London Games.
Her playing career taught her many lessons. She does not hesitate to name the most important. ‘One game always stands out for me,’ she says.
‘It was my first Olympic games in Athens in 2004. We had drawn the Dutch, first game. For the first ten to 20 minutes, it was a competitive match and I was able to score two goals.
‘But then came the big lesson. The Dutch went on to beat us 6-2 and that showed the level of their ability. Teams at the top have the ability to turn things around. It is No1 in my bank of memories.’
Her most pressing priority is to find success at the 2019 Women’s EuroHockey Championship II, which starts in Glasgow a week tomorrow.
Eight teams will vie for the top two qualifying slots for the 2021 Women’s EuroHockey Nations Championship, where stalwarts such as the Netherlands, Germany and England compete. Scotland are in Group B with Czech Republic, Ukraine and Austria.
‘When I look at the progression they have made in a short space of time, it is incredible,’ she says of her team. ‘Do they have the ability to match, compete and then beat the top teams? That is what they must aspire to — beating the top-ten teams on a consistent basis.’
She adds: ‘I thought the difficulty would be to change what seems to be a part-time culture into a full-time one. But that hasn’t been a problem because the players and the support team have embraced it and thrown themselves into it.
‘Most of these players have jobs or are students, so it is about juggling with that. It is being dedicated all the time. I take my hat off to the players.’
She is aware that hockey will be stepping into a summer of sport that has been marked by high-profile women’s events in the shape of the football and netball World Cups and in the wake of extraordinary performances at Wimbledon by Simona Halep and Cori Gauff.
‘The support that women athletes are getting now from sponsors and spectators is brilliant,’ adds Wilson.
‘There is a progression. We know female athletes around the world in a variety of sports can be incredible and that has been recognised. It takes support but times are changing.’
Wilson experienced the difficulties in her career. ‘I remember when women’s sport was struggling to get support and sponsors,’ she says. ‘Coming from South Africa, it was something that was part and parcel of the game.
‘To play and represent your country, you knew it could come at a financial cost to yourself. But it is something that you are determined to do. I was ready to do whatever it takes. We didn’t know anything different back then. We just got on with it, made it happen.’
She balanced a playing career with studying and bouts of coaching. ‘You made end meets,’ says Wilson. She was rewarded with a brilliant playing career that saw her travel the world and, latterly, sponsorship that ensured some of the costs were borne by others.
‘We weren’t contracted players,’ she says. ‘It was time when many female athletes over the years had to make a decision to make. You had to do it for the love of the game or because you wanted to achieve something.’
She adds: ‘It didn’t make sense financially. It was about making a choice: earning money or having a hockey career. My belief was that you have a tight time to be an athlete. So you have to make a decision and commit to it.’
In addition to her position as Scotland head coach, Wilson is also in charge of the women’s Sevenoaks team in England’s Conference East and is part of the elite development team at The King’s School in Canterbury.
‘I like working with people,’ she says. ‘I like helping players to progress. You can see what impact a team can make on an individual. I have a huge passion for seeing players become better, so I always want to be a coach.’
Her answer to her coaching priority is intriguing. ‘I want to make sure that players realise they have a percentage in them, that little bit extra, that they didn’t know,’ she says.
‘It is how to find it. It is also about giving players the freedom to play. I don’t want them to feel under pressure, so it is about expressing themselves out there.
‘They put in time and effort, so they have to enjoy every moment. It is about desire.’