Ireland 'to dream a little bigger' after trio's Aussie trip

Roisin Upton, Katie Mullan and Sarah Hawksworth helped Canberra Chill to the Grand Final

Captain Katie Mullan, Roisin Upton and Sarah Hawkshaw are all returning as Ireland's women are putting the final touches to their preparations for the Olympic qualifiers in Valencia in January.

The trio are back after a three-month adventure down under, where they recently helped Canberra Chill to a runners-up finish in Australia's State Championship.

It all started over a cup of coffee the previous year.

Matt Cook, Chill's head coach, was in Europe on an International Hockey Federation coaching course and was attending the Nations Cup in Spain, where he met with Ireland coach Sean Dancer.

He informed Dancer that the Canberra franchise team were able to bring import players into their competition. The Irish coach immediately knew this was a "unique opportunity" for "key players" Mullan, Upton and Hawksworth.

"It offered the players a chance to focus on themselves, rather than team leadership and develop key areas of their own game, in a new and exciting environment on the other side of the world," Dancer said.

After taking time to consider the offer, the Irish trio decided it was an opportunity they wanted to embrace.

"I would never would see my role and responsibility with Ireland as a as a weight or an additional pressure," skipper Mullan said.

"But, like anything, stepping outside the box that you've been in for so long, it creates more space and more capacity.

"When I was away in Australia, I used that space and capacity to really hone in and focus on my own game."

Bigger picture

After years with balancing hockey with work and studies, the move to Australia's capital offered Mullan a chance to put everything into the sport she loves.

"It's the first time in my life where it's just been hockey," the 29-year-old added.

"For the last year, I was coming in from training sessions having to sit down at the desk again to study. Prior to that, I'd been working.

"For the period of time that we were away to just be able to really focus on recovery and it was definitely a lot better for my body. I am getting a little bit older and the joints need a little bit more tender love and care.

"It just meant that every training session, your body was as close to 100% to be able to go out and do that. I hadn't realised how much of a benefit that that was going to be when we were away, but it was massive."

The Ireland trio spent three months in Australia before the upcoming Olympic qualifiers

With Olympic qualifiers looming, Hawkshaw said it was "a great opportunity" and she balanced her decision on the big picture of being in Paris next summer.

"I thought it could bring my game possibly to the next level," she said. "Then really what was on the forefront of my brain was, will it help us qualify for Paris? It was not an easy yes. It took some time to think through.

"I think sometimes when you step away, you kind of let yourself get a little bit more of an insight into yourself. It really let me analyse my game and it gave me the time to look in depth about things that I do.

"It can be different to put yourself in a new environment and challenge yourself in that new environment against players that you don't really know who they are. It was really beneficial for us to kind of take a step back and step up to a new challenge."

Playing abroad was nothing new to Hawkshaw or Upton who both went to college in the USA and played NCAA hockey.

Upton added: "It was fantastic to be able to train and play seven days a week and to balance your recovery and your hockey.

"It can be challenging at times, being full on and being in a semi-permanent training schedule every week. It brought its own challenges being over there.

"It was really enjoyable and you just get to focus on yourself but you got a whole new culture, a new style of play, a new team to get to know and the travel logistics so there was definitely enough to be thinking about."

'We need to dream a little bigger'

The trio were able to sample Australian life as they travelled across the country playing games in Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane, among other cities.

Eventually they helped Canberra reach the Grand Final, only to lose out to Brisbane.

They experienced how the hockey set-up in each Australian state is the same as it is for the whole island of Ireland, from administration to playing tactics and got used to training in some of the best hockey facilities in the world.

"It's given me a new sort of vision that we need to dream a little bit bigger here in Ireland," Mullan added.

"We have quality players, just as good in terms of our grass roots and what's coming through, but we need to support that in terms of facilities.

"It's amazing what that can do for the youngsters in terms of motivating them, inspiring them and growing the sport even more. So we need to push for that a little bit more in terms of National Hockey Centres in Ireland."

Katie Mullan captained Ireland to the Hockey World Cup final in 2018

With the Olympic qualifiers coming up, Upton adds that despite having room to grow the sport, the team have made "so much progress" since their historic silver medal at the 2018 World Cup.

"We've got an Australian coach who loves to play attacking hockey and we're absolutely reaping the rewards," Upton said.

"To actually go down there and understand Sean's vision a little bit more and get to see their style of play was hugely beneficial.

"Australia are a team that's ranked second in the world consistently so I suppose there probably was a lot of confidence from the three of us that we're doing a lot right back here in Ireland.

"That we can actually come home and I suppose have a lot of time to reflect on how far this group has come in the last two years and it fills us with the confidence that we're doing a lot right, we're playing a style that's really exciting and that we're enjoying.

"It's a good balance of attacking hockey and controlled hockey and our trip just reaffirmed confidence in what we're doing and that's exciting heading towards the qualifiers."