Chloe Watkins knew better than anyone how the Irish football team felt after last summer’s World Cup. He spends his entire career dreaming of reaching the sport’s highest stage, and once he gets there, the experience is over in the blink of an eye and he goes home knowing he didn’t do him justice. Deflation will inevitably begin.
“And I was definitely depressed for a few months,” she says of her state of mind after the Irish hockey team experienced its first Olympic Games in Tokyo in summer 2021.
“Well, I could totally understand how the footballers looked back on their first World Cup. Just like we’ve been chasing Olympic qualification for years and years and years, they’ve been chasing that. I have been chasing my dreams for a long time and experienced many heartbreaks along the way. So even if I finally reach the goal, it will be over quickly, especially if I feel that I did not perform well enough. We’re going to have a dip. And in terms of performance, it wasn’t the best Olympics for us.”
“It’s weird, and by the end you’re like, ‘Now what?’
After a bright start in the pool matches in Tokyo, with a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening game, Ireland lost their next four games. Their Olympics ended just one week later.
“We will always be proud of being the first Irish women’s team to qualify. It was a great experience, going to the Olympic Village and watching other sporting events. No, I couldn’t see my family and friends.” There because of Covid. And it was very, very strange to play in a big empty stadium with no support at all.
“Well, I was down for a while, but I’m sure every athlete feels the same way after something like that.” At that time, I felt a little tired, so I decided it was a good time to take a break. Did.”
After all, it was a whirlwind three years, starting with the 2018 World Cup, where the team made it to the finals in London. Watkins’ penalty kicking expertise contributed in no small part to that story. However, with the Olympics postponed from 2020 to 2021, the tough period has been further extended.
“Once it was over, I felt it was the right time to take a step back and look at my life. I had to take the accountancy exam, but it was so much more than that. Other aspects of my life, my family. I felt I needed to dedicate my time to things I didn’t want to miss: events, weddings, vacations, all the things I miss when I’m part of an international program.
“I loved the holidays and the freedom and flexibility it gave me in my daily schedule and being able to choose what I wanted to do with my time. But interestingly, in some ways, the structure I had when I was with the Ireland national team We often joked that we almost hated any downtime or time away from the program because we liked each other’s routines and liked being in each other’s bubble. , it’s kind of a double-edged sword if you let it have its way.”
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now? Watkins is back in the bubble. She was away from the national team for two years, but during the summer she returned to the team and she is included in the squad for the Olympic qualifiers in Valencia next week, with the team securing a ticket to Paris next summer. I am aiming to do that.
Have you been refreshed?
“I don’t know about that,” she laughed. “I was always advised to never take time off as they said it would be very difficult to get going again. Now I understand what they meant. It’s not easy to go back to training at that intensity. However, it was a gradual process. He returned to the team last summer, but was not considered for the team. [August’s] At the European Championships, I just trained with them and played a little bit with the development team to get up to speed again.
“I didn’t expect to take this long a break, but I think it’s been very good for me. I’m really enjoying being back with the team and now I’m thinking about my second consecutive tournament. All we have to do is qualify for the Olympics. We’ve made great progress because we’ve been able to qualify for back-to-back World Cups, even though we didn’t qualify for the big tournaments for years. , have higher expectations and ambitions. The goal has always been to raise the bar for themselves. The first goal was to start qualifying regularly, and the second was to actually compete against the top teams. Yes, that’s the goal you want.
[ Tokyo 2020: What now for Ireland’s golden hockey generation after Britain defeat? ]
“After the 2018 World Cup, there was more attention on us and with it more pressure to achieve. As a result, your mindset changes. Yes, you put more pressure on yourself and your team. I expect more. And I really noticed that the young players that have come in also have high expectations after what they’ve done in the last few years, and they bring fearlessness and energy to everything they do. When you combine that with the knowledge of older players, you get a good blend.”
Watkins’ return brings a wealth of experience back to the team, with the Monkstown player having won 237 caps since making his debut as an 18-year-old in 2010 and leading the club to their first-ever Irish Senior Cup win in April last year. led to. .
“It’s crazy how time flies so fast,” she says of her international career. “Well, even though I say ‘quick,’ it’s been 13 years,” she laughs. “But it seems like just yesterday I was one of the young guys on the team.”
At 31 years old, she is currently the oldest player, but although many have retired in recent years, coach Sean Dancer’s team still has seven players with more than 100 caps, including one at the 2018 World Cup. This includes six survivors and 12 participants from the Tokyo Olympics.
The challenges in Valencia are huge. Ireland must finish in the top three of the eight-team tournament to qualify for Paris. The world ranking is 13th, tied with Belgium (4th), South Korea (12th), Ukraine (28th), UK (7th), Spain (8th), Canada (16th) and Malaysia (18th). ) are lined up. Go up to the other pool.
The campaign begins next Saturday (13th) with a match against tournament leaders Belgium, followed by matches against Ukraine (15th) and South Korea (16th). The match against South Korea is already looking like a big deal, but that (dangerously) presupposes that there will be no failures against Ukraine.
“We are not thinking about anything other than the game against Belgium… but yeah, the game against South Korea will probably be a big one. But none of the games are easy. We have played against these three teams many times. However, it is always unpredictable. A good start against Belgium will take some of the pressure off, but the game where we are looking for three points is against Ukraine, and after that it will all be against South Korea. We have to make it to the semi-finals, we have to be in the top three in the tournament and we want to go to the Olympics for the second time in a row. We’re setting the standard.”
I’m back in the bubble. I hope to hold the Olympics again and create even happier memories this time.
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