Capping off a great few months

Pulling on his or her shirt for international duty is a special moment for any athlete.

“I cry every time the national anthem plays,” admitted Katelyn Falgowski as she celebrated earning 200 caps for the USA at the recent Hockey World League Semi-Finals. “But when you have played for your country for a significant amount of times – 100, 200, even 300 caps – then you feel something even stronger.”

The season of Hockey World League (HWL) Semi-Finals, which took place in in Buenos Aires, Valencia and Antwerp, produced several milestone celebrations.

For Juan Lopez of Argentina, 200 caps was the pinnacle of a 2-1 win against Japan in the quarter-finals that took his team one step closer to a place at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

“I’m very happy,” he said, “This is a special moment, especially in my country and with my friends. We also won the quarter-final which means that we are very close to the Olympics now. The crowd is incredible.”

At the same tournament, Xavi Lleonart of Spain said winning his 100th cap had “been a special moment,” but losing to Canada had put the spoiler on his day.

A trio of players from Ireland celebrated milestone caps at the women’s Semi-Final event in Valencia.

Shirley McCay, Aine Connery and Nikki Evans were part of the squad that began the competition well.

Speaking after her team’s 2-0 win over USA, Nikki Evans, who had played well in the game, was forthright in her assessment. “Not a bad day,” she said as she picked up her 100th cap.

Aine Connery earned her 100th cap in the pool game against South Africa. “It’s a little ironic because I got my first cap against South Africa, too. To get there with a 4-1 win - I’m delighted.”

While Connery and Evans were able to celebrate their caps with victories, for McCay it was a bitter-sweet moment.

The team lost 3-1 to Germany, but as McCay said: “They are European champions for a reason, and we certainly gave them a game out there. 200 caps is obviously a result of a few years hard work and I am really proud of the achievement. I couldn’t wish to do it with a better bunch of girls.”

Being recognised in front of a home crowd always adds something to the occasion and Spanish captain Rocio Ybarra was delighted when she was presented with her 200th cap.

She said: “Today was the best feeling! My twin sister was there in the crowd; it was lovely having all the people cheering for us.”

The moment was made sweeter as Spain beat higher-ranked rivals China 1-0 in a tight encounter.

In Antwerp both the men’s and women’s competition saw a number of players celebrating their cap milestones.

Barry Middleton reached 350 combined England and Great Britain caps.

Speaking after his team’s win over India, Middleton said: “It’s been a good week. Obviously it is nice to get 350 caps, but this was all about qualifying for the Olympics. Once we had done that, we had the chance to show how good a team we are. We wanted to finish the tournament off properly today and I think we did that.”

Netherlands women were unbeaten in their campaign to qualify for Rio 2016 at the HWL Semi-Final in Antwerp.

Reaching 200 caps was an extra achievement for captain Maartje Paumen. She said: “For me it was a really special day, of course. Before the game I received a lot of messages saying well done on reaching 200 and I also spent some time thinking about what we have achieved during the last 11 years. It really was a special moment for me.”

Second placed women’s team in Antwerp was the ever-improving Korea. Kim Jongeun celebrated reaching 200 caps.

Speaking after their 2-1 loss to Netherlands, Kim said: “It is a really good feeling to have played so many games. I’m sad about the result, but life as a hockey player is perfect.”

Players celebrating milestone caps:

Men