Ahead of the 15th edition of the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup taking place in Spain and the Netherlands (1-17 July), we’re conducting a series of exclusive interviews with the participating teams. Today: Katie Mullan (IRL).
The Green Army really were the fairy tale of the last edition of the FIH Hockey Women's World Cup, reaching the final. When you think of this performance, what are the memories coming to mind?
I think that for us the 2018 World Cup was the moment we sort of transformed hockey in Ireland and wrote a very special piece of history for our little country in terms of world hockey. But for all of us as players, it was a moment we felt that we had been building towards doing something special. And to finally get there and get the recognition for all the hard work, it was very special for both us and our families. It forever will bring a smile to my face thinking back to that World Cup experience.
In which ways do you think it kind of transformed hockey in Ireland?
Well, I think a lot of people across Ireland maybe didn't know much about the national women's team and that we were competing on the world stage. I think once we got through the quarterfinals, a lot of people became aware of the Irish women's hockey team. That then shed into our Olympic qualification in 2019, where we had a sellout crowd in Dublin for our matches against Canada. Had we not had that success we had in 2018, we wouldn't have had that same support within our country building towards qualifying for our first Olympic Games. And I just think that the uptake of hockey has multiplied significantly, as more and more kids now have a dream of playing hockey for Ireland which is very special.
Can you tell us about the way you and your team were welcomed back home after this World Cup?
When we were in London, we didn't quite realise how big the following was back home. We were sort of living in our own little bubble, focusing on performance. It wasn't until we flew back to Dublin with our families. We were greeted on the streets with close to 10,000 people coming out to one of the main streets in the city center to welcome us onto our homecoming stage with our World Cup silver medals. That was people from all backgrounds, all sporting backgrounds, all ages, male, female, all out to kind of acknowledge our success. It was the moment that we realised the significance of what we had done: being ranked 16th in the world at the time, to come home with the World Cup silver medal!
Since then, you had the memorable Olympic qualifiers at home and then you went to the Olympic Games in Tokyo. How do you look at your performance in Tokyo?
Tokyo for us was a completely new experience. We didn't know what to expect with an Olympic Games. We always knew that was going to be a challenge. We had hoped to get further than we did, coming off the back of our success at the World Cup, and we would have had goals of getting to a quarter final. But we all know the Olympic Games is very unique and a very difficult competition. We really enjoyed the experience but we were disappointed with our performance. Having said that, we came away with hunger and a desire to make sure that we are competing at the upcoming World Cup and Olympic Games.
What are your expectations as a team for the upcoming World Cup?
We have a very exciting group. We also have a very young and exciting team that are training really hard together. It's kind of a new journey for us. So, we're writing a new chapter or the Irish women’s hockey team. We want to secure spots in the crossover or the quarterfinal to begin with and then, as we know from previous experience, anything is possible from then on.
You're in a Pool with Chile, Germany and the Netherlands. How do you look at each of these teams?
Our first game against the Netherlands is going to be an amazing spectacle. We're playing against one of the host countries, in the opening game of the World Cup, in the kind of country that is the best known for their hockey in the world. That's going to be an amazing, exciting experience. We've come closer and closer to the Dutch team each time we've played them. We hope to continue that with the opening game of the World Cup.
Then we know that Chile are a new team to the competition. They're going to be like us in 2018, very excited. We have to do our homework and prepare for them. That’s definitely a target game for us.
Then the German team, we know them very well. We've played against them a lot and we know that, on a good day for us, we can challenge for some points from that game as well.
It's a tight group, but a very high quality one and one we're looking forward to competing in. That's why you go to World Cups. To challenge yourself against the best in the world and our group definitely gives us that opportunity.
To conclude, Katie, do you have any message for your fans?
The fans made the experience so special for us in 2018. We just can't wait to run out of the tunnel at the World Cup in Amsterdam and be greeted again by those amazing Irish fans. Hopefully we'll have a save green in front of us to cheer us on. We're just looking forward to seeing them on the pitch in July!
#HWC2022
