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Lily Owsley making waves in hockey, a sport she fell into by accident Lily Owsley making waves in hockey, a sport she fell into by accident
(about 5 hours later)
It was the late summer in 2012, and a promising 17-year-old hockey player travelled to London to spend a day at the Olympics with her father. “I went to watch the hockey,” Lily Owsley says, “and I remember my dad saying to me: ‘In 2015 we’ll be having the European Championships here, that’s got to be your aim.’ And I was like: ‘Dad, don’t be stupid, I’m never going to be there.’”It was the late summer in 2012, and a promising 17-year-old hockey player travelled to London to spend a day at the Olympics with her father. “I went to watch the hockey,” Lily Owsley says, “and I remember my dad saying to me: ‘In 2015 we’ll be having the European Championships here, that’s got to be your aim.’ And I was like: ‘Dad, don’t be stupid, I’m never going to be there.’”
Less than two years later Owsley scored for England in the Commonwealth Games final, though Australia denied the forward a fairytale gold medal by equalising with 10 seconds on the clock and winning the shootout. When the best of Europe come to Lee Valley next August, she will almost certainly be there. “Even the Olympics, it’s not just make-believe any more,” she says. “It’s achievable and realistic, and I’m now thinking I want to go there and I want to get a medal.”Less than two years later Owsley scored for England in the Commonwealth Games final, though Australia denied the forward a fairytale gold medal by equalising with 10 seconds on the clock and winning the shootout. When the best of Europe come to Lee Valley next August, she will almost certainly be there. “Even the Olympics, it’s not just make-believe any more,” she says. “It’s achievable and realistic, and I’m now thinking I want to go there and I want to get a medal.”
Owsley’s first full year in the senior international setup has been unusually dramatic, featuring both elation in Glasgow in August and humiliation at the World Cup in June. In the Hague, Britain, bronze medallists both at the previous event in 2010 and at the Olympics two years later, came bottom of their group of six and avoided finishing last overall only by beating Belgium on penalties in the wooden‑spoon play-off. The team’s coach, Jason Lee, left shortly afterwards. Owsley’s first full year in the senior international setup has been unusually dramatic, featuring both elation in Glasgow in August and humiliation at the World Cup in June. In The Hague, Britain, bronze medallists both at the previous event in 2010 and at the Olympics two years later, came bottom of their group of six and avoided finishing last overall only by beating Belgium on penalties in the wooden‑spoon play-off. The team’s coach, Jason Lee, left shortly afterwards.
“Going into the World Cup we were quite optimistic,” says Owsley. “We’d been consistently in the medals, and we had so much belief as a team. I think that’s one of the reasons why it was so devastating, finishing 11th. A lot of us hadn’t prepared ourselves for it. I think it showed quite a lot about our strength, and the characters in our team, that we stayed together as a group.“Going into the World Cup we were quite optimistic,” says Owsley. “We’d been consistently in the medals, and we had so much belief as a team. I think that’s one of the reasons why it was so devastating, finishing 11th. A lot of us hadn’t prepared ourselves for it. I think it showed quite a lot about our strength, and the characters in our team, that we stayed together as a group.
“In Glasgow we played the same kind of hockey, and the same standard, as we’d been playing for a year and a half, but we tied together a couple of the loose ends that had been left after the World Cup, we nailed some of our corner routines, and things changed. We had to forget about the World Cup, and we had to move forward.”“In Glasgow we played the same kind of hockey, and the same standard, as we’d been playing for a year and a half, but we tied together a couple of the loose ends that had been left after the World Cup, we nailed some of our corner routines, and things changed. We had to forget about the World Cup, and we had to move forward.”
The year ends with the Champions Trophy in Argentina next month, to which only the world’s top eight teams are invited; England are included having come second when it was last held in 2012. “That’s now a really massive event for us,” she says, “because we did lose a lot of ranking points after the World Cup. We went from third in the world to sixth, which is really massive because it affects who’s in our next group, and how hard the groups are. I’m not too bothered – if you want to be the best in the world you’ve got to beat everyone anyway – but it does make things harder. So we have to go out there, and we have to aim high.”The year ends with the Champions Trophy in Argentina next month, to which only the world’s top eight teams are invited; England are included having come second when it was last held in 2012. “That’s now a really massive event for us,” she says, “because we did lose a lot of ranking points after the World Cup. We went from third in the world to sixth, which is really massive because it affects who’s in our next group, and how hard the groups are. I’m not too bothered – if you want to be the best in the world you’ve got to beat everyone anyway – but it does make things harder. So we have to go out there, and we have to aim high.”
When it comes to sport, Owsley has never done anything else. She had already impressed at football and athletics before being introduced to hockey, aged 13, at her new school, Clifton college, in Bristol. “They said I had to play hockey but I just wanted to get my boots on and play football, or to run around,” she says. “I went to a couple of sessions and I was hooked.” Gradually the other sports fell by the wayside; athletics was the last to go, in 2012, after a second-place finish over 800m at the English Schools’ Championship. “I knew as I did that race that was my last, that’s it, I’m done,” she says. “It was never a big choice, I always wanted hockey. I love the bond, the support you get from the others. It’s so much fun being in a team, and then the sport itself, I just think it’s a great sport.”When it comes to sport, Owsley has never done anything else. She had already impressed at football and athletics before being introduced to hockey, aged 13, at her new school, Clifton college, in Bristol. “They said I had to play hockey but I just wanted to get my boots on and play football, or to run around,” she says. “I went to a couple of sessions and I was hooked.” Gradually the other sports fell by the wayside; athletics was the last to go, in 2012, after a second-place finish over 800m at the English Schools’ Championship. “I knew as I did that race that was my last, that’s it, I’m done,” she says. “It was never a big choice, I always wanted hockey. I love the bond, the support you get from the others. It’s so much fun being in a team, and then the sport itself, I just think it’s a great sport.”
Two months after she started playing she was picked for her county; within two years she represented England. “I always think, what if I didn’t go to that school?” she says. “I’d never have picked up a hockey stick.”Two months after she started playing she was picked for her county; within two years she represented England. “I always think, what if I didn’t go to that school?” she says. “I’d never have picked up a hockey stick.”
Owsley, who now plays for the University of Birmingham, was promoted from the Under-21s last year, not an unusual route into the senior setup although few do it aged 18 (she made her full debut in the same week as her final A-level exam). “When I first joined everyone was incredible but I’ve tried to shape up because at the beginning I was this little skinny runner with a stick,” Owsley says. Owsley, who now plays for the University of Birmingham, was promoted from the Under-21s last year, not an unusual route into the senior setup although few do it aged 18 (she made her full debut in the same week as her final A-level exam). “When I first joined everyone was incredible but I’ve tried to shape up because at the beginning I was this little skinny runner with a stick,” she says.
“The way she plays and the way she settled into the squad was very impressive,” says her team-mate Alex Danson, who made her own international debut in 2001 at the age of 16. “For someone so young she’s got a really wise head on her shoulders, and she fits in very well because not only does she work hard, but she also wants to learn.”“The way she plays and the way she settled into the squad was very impressive,” says her team-mate Alex Danson, who made her own international debut in 2001 at the age of 16. “For someone so young she’s got a really wise head on her shoulders, and she fits in very well because not only does she work hard, but she also wants to learn.”
She is equally happy to be handing out the lessons, with her behaviour as self-appointed arbiter of the squad’s occasional games of Articulate becoming increasingly renowned. “I think we’re all equally competitive on the field, but it’s off the field you realise Lily really is extremely competitive,” says Danson. “I remember the first time we played Articulate and I was like: ‘Oh wow, for a youngster you are really setting the tone here.’ She’s like: ‘I know the rules, the rules are there, do not break the rules.’ It’s very funny.” She is equally happy to be handing out the lessons, with her behaviour as self-appointed arbiter of the squad’s occasional games of Articulate becoming increasingly renowned.
“I think we’re all equally competitive on the field, but it’s off the field you realise Lily really is extremely competitive,” says Danson. “I remember the first time we played Articulate and I was like: ‘Oh wow, for a youngster you are really setting the tone here.’ She’s like: ‘I know the rules, the rules are there, do not break the rules.’ It’s very funny.”
Owsley remembers, before the start of England’s first match at the World Cup, being “so nervous I was shaking, I thought I was going to be sick”, but the process of integration has been swift. “At the Olympics I remember watching them thinking: ‘These girls are incredible, they’re just amazing,’” she says. “Not long after that I was training with them and I realised they’re just people. People who just work so hard, train so hard, have such a drive. The gap isn’t as big as you think – it just takes a lot of hard work.”Owsley remembers, before the start of England’s first match at the World Cup, being “so nervous I was shaking, I thought I was going to be sick”, but the process of integration has been swift. “At the Olympics I remember watching them thinking: ‘These girls are incredible, they’re just amazing,’” she says. “Not long after that I was training with them and I realised they’re just people. People who just work so hard, train so hard, have such a drive. The gap isn’t as big as you think – it just takes a lot of hard work.”