WELCOME x LAURA UNSWORTH

Hello,

My name is Laura Unsworth and i am currently a member of England and Great Britain Womens hockey team. This year has been very different to past and i have seen a lot of changes in my life.

From October 2009, the Great Britain womens team re-located to Bisham Abbey, Marlow which allows us to train together as a team everyday. As a result i moved down to Marlow from Loughborough where i am currently studying at University to join the rest of the girls.  As a team, we have just come back off a 2 week break after our bronze medal success in the Champions Trophy in Nottingham and we are getting ready for our final training phase before the team heads out to Argentina for the World Cup in just over a weeks time!

Everyone is geting really excited about heading out to Rosario as it is going to be an unbelivable experience and the crowds are going to be absolutely amazing!

Unsy xXx

WELCOME x RICHIE DAWSON-SMITH

Hi All,

I am Richie Dawson-Smith, I have recently returned from Poland after competing for England in the Under 21s European Championships.

Before the Europeans we competed as a team in a number of test matches with Belgium, Germany and Holland as well as playing at the tournament ground in a four nation’s tournament. We also had numerous training camps, so as a team we travelled to Poland feeling well prepared and confident that we could place well.

As a team we went into the tournament looking for a medal and to do so would mean we would have to beat some of the ‘big names’ to start with in Spain and Belgium who were both in our group. We had a dream start beating the Spanish 5-1. Our second game was against France, we didn’t start nearly as well as against the Spanish going 2-0 down. We pulled one back before half time and carried that momentum through to the second half bringing the scores level and finally winning 3-2.

So we were into the semi-finals regardless of the result of our final pool match against Belgium, however we still wanted to win the group so a win or a draw was essential for us. Waking up on the day of the Belgium game and it was raining, the rain didn’t stop or even slow all day. We turned up at the pitch and watch the last few minutes of the Spain – France game with everyone saying the same thing, was the pitch going to be playable. It turned out to be just about alright for the 1^st half which we went in at 1-1. The 2^nd half however was a different story with passing getting very difficult, due to the ball getting stuck in standing water.  We got stuck in our own half and went 4-1 down, eventually getting up the other end and scoring but as soon as we scored the game was called off due to the flooded pitch, and we finished off the half throwing aerials to each other. Needless to say we weren’t very happy as we essentially had to give up 1^st place in the pool without being able to properly fight for it.

So we had Holland in our semi-final. We went into the match with a strong belief that we could win the game. We played as we had been all tournament and controlled large periods of the match, but missing corners and other chances and with Holland taking theirs the game finished 3-1. Now we had to beat the old enemy Germany to win a medal.

We didn’t start well in the 3^rd- 4^th play-off and by 5 minutes into the 2^nd half we found ourselves 4-1 down, with a big mountain to climb to win the bronze. We dominated the remainder of the match pulling the score back to 4-3 with 15 minutes to go, but a number chances went begging and the game finished 4-3. We were obviously unhappy to come so close in two games to get into the medals but in the end we just didn’t convert our chances when it was really needed, but we did take some consolation in how well we had played, especially against the big names in European Hockey and having achieved the best result in the Junior Europeans since 2004.

Cheers, Richie

WELCOME x KRYSTAL FORGESSON

Hi Everyone

My name is Krystal Forgesson and I am a member of the Blacksticks Women’s team.  Since I am introducing myself I will give you a bit of info on what I have been up to and then fill you in on what the NZ girls are up to. Enjoy

Home for me is in Auckland, NZ but for the last two seasons I have played the majority of my hockey for HGC which is based in Den Haag, Netherlands.  I love playing hockey in Holland because of the high speed, intensity and skill level that you experience every week.  The club is so welcoming and my teammates are all great fun to hang out with.  The hockey is really social which makes it that much more enjoyable; whether it is eating meals together after training, meeting early before games for tea/coffee or jetting off to Barcelona for a team trip, it’s just nice to be able to really get to know your teammates and make some lifelong friends along the way.  I feel very privileged to have experienced playing overseas and meeting so many amazing people – I can’t wait for the next season which kicks off early October. Enough on me for now…..

As a team, we are currently in preparation for the World Cup in Rosario and with a little over a week before we leave NZ, it’s not long at all before the reality of being at the World Cup sets in.  The NZ team missed out on qualifying for the last WC so we are determined to make up for missing that and have a lot to prove this time around.  Since arriving home from Champions Trophy a few weeks ago, training has increased and we have focused on three main areas of our game.  CT was a good judgement of where we are compared to the top teams in the world and in that respect I think it was an extremely important tournament for us.  The team is reasonably young but I think that makes it so exciting.  Some of the younger girls are extremely talented and at times I still find it hard to believe how they manage to pull off such crazy things!  We head straight into Rosario rather than opting to train for a bit elsewhere first.  I have never been to Argentina but I have heard enough on how fanatical it can be and can’t wait to experience that side of it.

Be in touch from Rosario!

Krys

Photos: Daniel Carson | dcimages.org

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP, THE END X LUCAS SEVESTRE

On the way back to France after the end of the U21 tournament, I feel free to debrief with you our trip in Poland…

We’ve finished fifth, and that’s not a bad the result, because it was the purpose set up by the federation. But the goal’s team was the semi-final, even if the results of our preparation which last 5 months were not so good, we knew our strengths…

A team has been build during several months, and we were ready for his competition. On the paper we were the eightieth nation, but we wanted to make something great. Belgium was the first game we played, and the challenge wasn’t easy for us against the favorites of the competition. We lost 4-3, after leaded 3-2, ten minutes before the end. I allow myself to say we dominated the game, and a win for France would not have been undeserved… We missed opportunities, 2 of our 7 PC were scored, while Belgium scored 3 of their 4! We all know the huge impact of the Penalty Corner.

The second game of the pool was against England… One more time, we dominated 55min of the game, and England toke well the opportunity to beat us. We leaded 2-0 early in the game, and England reached us thanks to 2 Penalty strokes. We paid our lack of experienced of these tight games and lost 3-2. Disappointment and frustration was the main felling felt by the team! The semi-final was now out of view, and we could be angry against our self because we lost this match, and England didn’t win it (even if they made a great come back).

The new purpose was now to stay in the group A and get the fifth European place, by winning our last 3 games.

To start, we had to beat Spain. Under an awesome rain and on pitch which became a swimming pool, the match has been very closed, and the winning team was the one who will make less mistakes. Final result 0-0.

Our two next opponents were Russia and Poland. We made a draw 3-3 against Russia, which forced us to win Poland the day after, in front of their crowd, in their European Cup. Not an easy task!

We managed Poland pretty well with a victory 4-1. We scored the first goal at the 25^th second, but we missed a lot of opportunities and let Poland came back at 2-1 ten minutes before the end. Our old demons showed them-self but thanks to the experienced we got from the last games, we won. It has been a great feeling by all the team, and we celebrate the victory and this fifth place more than you can imagine! We all know this is not the best ranking that a team could have, but since the beginning we have been so unlucky, and lost our matches on small details that the satisfaction and the relief were big!

The U21 French team, all wished to do a better result, because we played well and the other teams have been very surprised by our level of play… Some said we would have deserved to reach the semi-final which was so closed. Of course there is disappointment, but we can be proud of our self.

“Small details, big differences”

Kahlu # 17

FACEBOOK x GRYPHON HOCKEY x OFFICIAL

Gryphon now has its own Facebook page where you can keep up to date with everything Gryphon and a whole lot more.

So either click here to view or next time you’re on Facebook, search for Gryphon Hockey and check out our official company page (but don’t confuse it with the Gryphon Hockey Group page created by some fan somewhere!). Be sure to click like if you are down with it!

Cheers, The G-Team.

WELCOME KATE WALSH

Hi!

My name’s Kate Walsh and I am the current England and Great Britain hockey captain. Having just recovered from winning a bronze medal at the Champion’s Trophy in Nottingham, England women’s highest ever finish, I am getting ready for the team’s final preparation phase before the World Cup.

The Great Britain team have all re-located to the Marlow area, South East England, to enable us to train together more frequently. At Bisham Abbey we have the support and expertise of the English Institute of Sport and we get to train alongside budding Olympians from many other sports.

In the next few weeks we have some practice games against USA and a couple of weeks of training at Bisham before we head out to Rosario, Argentina. The team are really looking forward to going out to Argentina where we are always greeted with such warmth and the fanatical crowds are amazing!

So, till next time,

xoxo Kate

Photos: Daniel Carson | dcimages.org

EUROPEAN CUP U21, FIRST DAY X LUCAS SEVESTRE

Here we are. Arrived yesterday in Poland, we are now well set up in the “Arsenal Palace”, Hotel with Jacuzzi, pool, and other good services.

It’s very warm and sunny there so we’ll have to drink a lot of water!

The stadium, in which we played a 4 nations tournament, is ready to welcome all the teams and the crowd. There is about 2000 seats…

Before going to Poland, I played 8 official games against Ireland, Spain, India and Pakistan, with the French Senior Team. It was great to play because I had the opportunity to get my level back, get more experienced, after my knee injury! We played in Barcelona, Cookstown and Paris in 2 weeks.

My season has been quiet hard because of those two main injuries, but I’ve never given up my goal of this year, play the Euro Cup U21, and lead the team to the semi final!

I’ve won my bet, to be ready for the event… First game on Sunday against Belgium!

Let’s meet on and off the pitch!

I’ll let you know asap!

KAHLU #17

CT10 x WOMEN DAY 5 X MENS 4NATION FINAL

CT10 x WOMEN x DAY 4

Cheers, Smithy

CT10 x REST DAY x MENS 4 NATIONS

Cheers, Smithy

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