England captain Hollie Pearne-Webb says she remains to be ‘hungry’ for extra medals after successful a gold and a bronze on the earlier two Olympic Video games.
Pearne-Webb scored the winner within the shootout to seal a gold medal for Nice Britain at Rio 2016 after which captained the aspect as they gained a bronze medal in Tokyo.
Regardless of successful the most important prize in hockey, the start of a brand new Olympic cycle with new gamers and a brand new head coach has given the 31-year-old a renewed enthusiasm as she prepares for England’s first sport within the FIH Professional League on Saturday.
“I am determined to go on and attempt to get one other Olympic medal. It is greater than that, although. I am not simply chasing medals. I wish to be the very best particular person participant I will be. I wish to be a part of the very best workforce I can and I wish to win matches,” she stated.
“I’m extremely enthusiastic about this 12 months and the years after that. I do know I’m going to be pushed by the kids coming via.
“The primary few weeks again at coaching with the brand new gamers and the brand new coach have been nice. So long as I nonetheless have that feeling in my stomach then I’ll attempt to hold going for so long as I can.”
As it’s a Commonwealth Video games and World Cup 12 months, the squad will compete as England moderately than Nice Britain as they did main as much as the Olympic Video games.
Meaning Tokyo medallists similar to Scotland’s Sarah Robertson and Welsh duo Leah Wilkinson and Sarah Jones are unavailable to new head coach David Ralph.
Nevertheless, Pearne-Webb is worked up by the alternatives offered to different gamers because of this.
“We’ve got a model new squad however we have now to hit the bottom working. It is an ideal alternative to attempt these new women out and see the place they match and the mixtures we have now,” she stated.
“It’ll be vastly aggressive for locations which is barely a great factor for our squad as an entire. Everybody simply always has to attempt to be higher. That is the important thing factor, you might be in a very great place when choice’s all the time on the road.”
Head coach David Ralph, who spent the earlier cycle because the assistant coach, echoes these sentiments:
“The brand new gamers within the group now have two or three months the place some established gamers will not be round. They may have loads of worldwide publicity and that ought to put them in a great place,” he stated.
“Hopefully it isn’t really easy for the gamers coming again to simply slot in. Really they could realise we have moved on whereas they have been away.”
England start their Professional League marketing campaign with two matches away in opposition to Argentina, the Olympic silver medallists and quantity two ranked on the earth.
It is a powerful project for his or her new caps however Pearne-Webb desires to put a marker down as England intention to construct in the direction of the World Cup in July – a match she has some unfinished enterprise with.
In 2014 England went in as one of many favourites for a medal solely to complete eleventh out of 12 groups. In 2018, at a house World Cup, they misplaced to the eventual winners, the Netherlands, within the quarter-finals.
“The previous two World Cups I have been concerned in have been actually disappointing” says Pearne-Webb.
“We wish to go there and we do not need simply wish to crash out. We wish to attempt to push for medals. It is a model new squad so we have got loads of work to do, however from what I sense to this point I undoubtedly suppose we’re able to a medal.
“It is undoubtedly one thing on my want listing. It is actually going to be one of many greatest years in ladies’s sport.”
