Coach Kerry talked hockey heroes out of retiring to help set up their tilt at history
THE master tactician behind Britain’s historic hockey triumph had to beg the golden couple of his team not to retire two years ago.
Captain Kate RichardsonWalsh and her penalty hero wife, Helen, were considering giving up in 2014, with Kate aged 34 and Helen suffering from two back surgeries.
Danny Kerry, the coach hailed as the mastermind behind Friday night’s stunning shootout win, said Britain came desperately closely to losing two of their key cogs.
But he was able to talk Kate around despite years of falling just short on the big stage and Helen also opted to continue down the path of rehabilitation, culminating this week with a remarkable win that matched the men of Seoul in 1988.
Paying tribute to the perseverance of his two senior stars, who are both now likely to quit having added gold to London 2012 bronze, Kerry said: ‘I think it was really pivotal in the Commonwealth Games (in 2014 when England took silver).
‘I spoke to Kate and said, “Look, two more years of your life — I think we can turn things around”.
‘Kate went away, had some time, and then indicated she would come back.
‘Some people have tough periods in their life. The same with Helen. Some of the injuries, the back surgery — there is a real story here. When you dig and scratch the surface of some of these athletes, what they’ve been through and come out the other side of, it’s genuinely a real story. They deserve everything they’ve got.’ In that experience of suffering and near-misses, including a 2012 Olympic bronze, a Champions Trophy silver, and the more regionalised setbacks at Commonwealth level, Kerry believes a gold-winning resilience was created. It was needed in a final win over Holland, the genuine superpower of the sport.
Kerry added: ‘We needed that experience against Holland. I remember watching Dame Kelly Holmes win an Olympic gold medal in 2004. That lady kept getting up and kept giving more. That’s the same with the likes of Kate, Helen, Crista Cullen, people like that.
‘If you keep getting up you get there in the end. I’ve seen it so many times in sport. You get knocked down, you get back up, you get on the horse, you keep going.
‘And that’s why the likes of Kate and Helen and the rest of the team have got gold medals around their necks.’
Now Maddie Hinch, Hollie Webb and Co. believe their skipper should to be GB’s flagbearer at tonight’s closing ceremony. The 36-year-old retired after 13 years as captain after the match. But she is being tipped for one final honour before going to play with wife and team-mate Helen for Dutch club side Bloemendaal after the Games.