Sarah Evans could be said to be mirroring Great Britain’s performance in the FIH Pro League. From a tentative start, she has blossomed into her role within the team and, against Argentina and then Belgium, she was one of the stars of the team. In fact, Evans was awarded Player of the Match for her performance against Argentina, a match that ended 1-1 but for which Las Leonas won the bonus point on shoot-out.
“For us, so far, the FIH Pro League has been about us adjusting to [Head Coach] Mark Hager’s style of hockey and him getting to know us as a squad,” says the vivacious midfielder. “Mark wants us to play with a lot of attacking freedom and with a lot of pace, whilst also maintaining our defensive strength. We had struggled to get the balance of the two to start with but we feel a lot more stable structurally, which then gives us the platform to then attack.”
But she adds, as well as adapting to the demands of the new head coach, the squad has also had to adapt to the significant differences between one-off Pro League matches and the challenge of tournament hockey.
“We’ve been so used to preparing for tournaments and being robust enough to maintain high performance levels through tough tournaments so this has been very different for us,” she says. “But it is a new challenge that we’ve enjoyed. It means that we can really scout the opposition and prepare for each game individually.”
When it comes to mental preparation, Evans says the approach is very process goal driven, and whether it is a tournament situation or a FIH Pro League match, that doesn’t change.
As the team approaches the ‘business end’ of the Pro League, where Great Britain must keep winning their remaining league games to stay in with a chance of making the top four, Evans says: “It’s still a similar approach as we want to win every game we play in. Like I said before we will stay focused on our processes and prepare for each game as well as we can.”
Great Britain women have four home matches left to play. Evans and her teammates have been swept away by the enthusiastic support of the fans in the Lee Valley Stadium. “They [the crowds] have been amazing and definitely help give us that extra boost in the games there. They have been the best crowds in my opinion in the whole Pro League. To have a full stadium for the games is fantastic and great to see the fan base for the sport in our country growing.”
And the fan's loyal support is being repaid as Great Britain are recovering from a poor start to the new competition. “Both of the games over the weekend [Argentina and Belgium] were great strides forwards for us as a squad,” says Evans. “We were very disciplined in both the Argentina and Belgium games and it felt like things really came together. We felt we have been getting better throughout the Pro League and now that is starting to be reflected in our results. It’s important that we continue this momentum, building on these good performances and deliver in the coming games.”
And with two away fixtures in the next few days against an up and coming Belgium and then the world number one side, the Netherlands, Great Britain seem to have hit form at a good moment. There is a monumental hockey hill for Hager, Evans and the Great Britain squad to climb in order to achieve a top four finish but, recent showings suggest this is a team on an upward trajectory.
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