Sarah Evans is a midfielder for England and Great Britain. With 113 caps to her name [England and Great Britain combined], she has cemented her spot in the squad with her energetic and skilful performances in midfield.
After a five month break from FIH Hockey Pro League action, Evans and her Great Britain team mates are more than ready to take to the field for their two-game encounter with Germany, which takes place on the 12 and 13 May.
Currently, Great Britain are in fourth place in the league, with Germany just one place and one point behind them, but with two games in hand [Great Britain has played eight, Germany has played six].
Evans explains that although the Great Britain squad has had a lot of trips cancelled in the past few months, they have managed to recently get some competitive games against Ireland under their belts.
“We have been able to play some international matches against Ireland, which has been brilliant. We played Ireland early in the year and didn’t really hit the sort of form we wanted to, so we are pleased that we have been able to get back up to standard in these most recent games.”
When lockdown first struck, Great Britain had only recently appointed Mark Hager as Head Coach. Evans explains how the postponement of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, conversely, has worked in the team’s favour in many ways. In particular, it has allowed the squad an extra year to master the principles of play introduced by the former New Zealand Head Coach.
“It has also given players with niggling injuries more time to get back to fitness and it has allowed us time to get back together as a squad. Even throughout Covid, we were able to come back to our training base which has really helped us with our preparations.”
Looking forwards to the match against Germany, Evans says: “I always look forward to playing against Germany. It is always a tactical and physical battle. They play quite a similar style to us so we are familiar with how they play. We will look forward to having a good game against them.
“We have done our homework and there has been plenty of scouting [of Germany] so we will be very prepared going into those games and seeing how our training has readied us for the competition.
“We always go to the matches to get the win but we are also very process driven, so we want to hit certain targets in each game. If we hit the targets and stick to the processes, then the outcomes take care of themselves.”
Reflecting on the past year and how it has affected her personally, Evans says: “I have always been passionate about diversity, equality and fairness. This time has made me pause and look at our sporting landscape and see that it is not good enough. We need to do more to make our sport more diverse and inclusive and to break down barriers. I have gained a much clearer perspective on that and, as a team we will be doing more to counter that.”
Great Britain women play Germany women on 12 and 13 May. For the full interview with Sarah Evans, click here.
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