England’s footballers may have fallen short of reaching the World Cup final in Russia but England’s hockey captain, Alex Danson, believes conversations with Gareth Southgate have helped prepare her side for their own World Cup, which begins on Saturday against India at London’s Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre.
England host the tournament for the first time and have arguably never been in a better position to win it. Ranked No 2 in the world, and with Danson one of eight members of Great Britain’s 2016 Olympic gold-winning side in England’s squad, overcoming pressure and expectations in front of a home crowd is key.
“It was a real privilege to go to the Football Association conference, where I had to opportunity to share insights with Gareth from Rio and before,” Danson said. “I learned a lot: the language that Gareth used in some of his pre-match reviews was about routines, the process, and that’s what we’ve instilled in our environment here. He asked how we built the team of 31 women into a cohesive unit. I think we saw that with Gareth’s team at the World Cup.”
The mental side of the game has become paramount for England and Great Britain’s recent success in women’s hockey – including overcoming a much-fancied Dutch side in the Olympic final on penalties – and something that has dramatically improved since English players such as Danson became full-time professionals.
“Your mind is just as important as your body,” said the 33-year-old. “We’ve worked with an incredible psychologist, Andrea Furst, since 2014 and she’s had an enormous impact on our behaviours and team culture.
“When I started my career, we weren’t full time. We were ranked 11th in the world, and now we’ve climbed to second. I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that having a centralised, full-time programme means that we’ve had success over that period of time.
“I think back to my first World Cup in 2002: we quietly went off to Australia. We all had full-time jobs and wore the same shirt that we had worn for the previous two years.”
This year’s World Cup jerseys were distributed differently, with backroom staff secretly arranging for players’ parents to hand them out – just one example of how things are being done behind the scenes to create a sense of unity.
“Honestly, in my career, I think that was the most special thing that I’d ever experienced,” said Danson. “Genuinely, it’s up there with winning Olympic Gold.
“They managed to keep it a secret, goodness knows how. I even organised a barbecue at my boyfriend’s the day before to say bye to everyone. They were, like, ‘see you in a week.’ It turns out they were good liars.”
Every England group-stage match is a sell-out, with 10,000 fans set to pack out the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London’s Olympic Park for the opening match against India, before further tests against USA and Ireland, and Danson is banking on the home support for success. “Being at home makes an extraordinary amount of difference. Lee Valley is our fortress.”
