Chloe Rogers Hockey Player

Chloe Rogers is a twenty-one year old England and English Hockey Premier League player from the UK. She won a Bronze Medal as part of the England Hockey Team in Australia back in March 2006 at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Chloe scored the final England Penalty Flick in the Bronze Medal play-off final.
Since then she has played in the World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Italy and scored the winning goal of the semi-final against the USA Hockey team in the last minute of extra time. This victory sent England through to the final. BBC match report … http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/hockey/4974700.stm.

The England Hockey Team are now training and preparing for the Womens' Hockey World Cup taking place in Madrid from 26th September 2006. The team selection for the competition should be published tomorrow (Wednesday, 21st August 2006).

As an International Hockey player she has to follow a very strict diet and train many times a week to maintain her fitness. This requires dedication and commitment, but if you want to be an elite athlete you have to do this. Chloe can talk about her four trips-a-week to the gym, running sessions and the types of foods she can and cannot eat. Her favourite dish is pasta with vegetables such as sweetcorn, very simple to create and make. She can talk about the types of sacrifices that elite athletes have to make to get to the top level of their

With the issue of female sports being in the news at the moment, such as Wimbledon Female Champions being paid less than their male counterparts and the issue of Womens' Football being raised by Tessa Jowell with the Football Association - Chloe thinks that Womens' Hockey is very much on the up in terms of publicity, and it's participation. This is in part thanks to the recent success of the England Womens' Team.
Hockey is an amateur sport. England Hockey and Sport England pay for International costs, however Chloe has to pay a subscription to belong to her Premier League Team - Chelmsford Hockey Club. On top of this she has to raise sponsorship herself to help her meet the costs of travelling to matches up and down the country.
She recently attended the 2012 Olympics Roadshow in Ely, Cambridgeshire and she says "My goal is to play in the hockey competition in the 2008 Olympics and at the 2012 Olympics in the UK."

2007, has kick-off with your first two caps for the Great Britain hockey team – what does this mean for you and how is it different to being in the England hockey team?
Getting my first two GB caps was a great honour for me. It’s an exciting time as the GB squad evolves only in the two years leading up the Olympics. It is the first step towards being involved in the Olympic cycle and squad.

Is it strange playing on the same team with Welsh and Scottish hockey players, who, only a short while ago you were playing against?
At first it was a bit strange when we met up for the first time at a training camp but as time goes on and we got to know each other better, it was nice to have new characters which bought a new environment to the squad .

Is your ambition to be a part of an Olympics?
Yes defiantly, it has been an ambition of mine since I was a child, to compete at an Olympics and hopefully win a Gold medal.

March 2006 Commonwealth Games

What was it like when you found out you were going to the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne?
I couldn’t really believe it, I wasn’t too confident about making the squad and was preparing myself for the down fall. If you weren’t picked, you would receive a phone call on the day the squad was announced, I was constantly checking my phone and praying it didn’t ring, got to the evening and then received a text message saying congratulations on your selection for the Commonwealth Games team.

Talk us through your first two goals for the England Senior Ladies team against Scotland (England won 5-nil) …
My first goal was pleasing as it was what we had been working on in training for a while. I won the ball on the 25 yard line passed it infield to my team-mate then carried on running in to the circle to collect the ball back again then lifted it over the sliding goal keeper. I was lucky enough to get another goal in that game in the first minute after half-time. This goal was just in the right place at the right time and finished off.

Did the large Australian crowds make a difference when England played ‘The Hockeyroos’?

We lost to Australia in the semi final. We started the match extremely well and played some of the best hockey we have played together as a team, but couldn’t capitalise on all the pressure we had to score a goal. Whilst we were playing so well the crowd was deadly silent for the first 20 minutes, then Australia worked back into the game to score just before half-time, from then on the crowd made lots of noise and pushed them on to score a few more.

To win the bronze medal England had to beat New Zealand and it came down to penalty flicks – you took the last one, how did it feel to step up to take one? Did you know it was live on TV in the UK? Were you nervous?

I was the fourth penalty taker which turned out to be the last one due to our star GK who saved two. I was extremely nervous and very shocked when my name was read out to take one. We had practiced a few strokes the day before and they seemed to be going well. You don’t realise the cameras are there or even the crowd till after you have taken the stroke.

Once you knew you’d scored were you relieved?
Yes, I didn’t want to be the one who let the team down and have to live with that forever.

As a result of that medal win the team were invited to the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year Show – what was that like?
This was another big surprise as I opened up the invite. I have always watched the show every year, to get a chance to actually go and see all these magnificent sport stars was super. Most of the team went as well so it was a wonderful night. We had seats right at the front near the likes of Jonny Wilkinson and Denise Lewis. We were also invited to the after show party where we had the chance to meet lots of other famous stars.

September/October 2006 women’s World Cup in Madrid:

How is the World Cup different to say the Commonwealth Games?
The Commonwealths was a truly different experience. It is a huge multi-sport event with hundreds of countries taking part living in an athletes’ village in a wonderful environment of just athletes. The only other multi-sport event which hockey takes part in is the Olympics. The World Cup was special as it only takes place every 4 years as in football and it’s the biggest hockey-only tournament on the international stage.

How important is the support of friends and family to your success?
Very important to me it made me extremely happy that my parents (Barry and Liz) and brother (Oliver) were able to come out and watch at both the Commonwealth Games and World Cup and to share the wonderful experiences and moments I get from playing hockey.

Who are the best hockey teams in the world, would you say based on this tournament?
Holland are dominating women’s hockey at the moment winning the World cup quite comfortably and winning the Champions Trophy recently. We only lost 1-0 to them at world cup and it could have been a different result, which was pleasing for us.

And some of the best players of women’s hockey in the world are…
There are a few players who always stand out; Luciana Aymar from Argentina, Nikki Hudson from Australia and Sylvia Karres from Holland.

What was it like playing Germany (The Olympic Champions) twice?

It’s what you train so hard for, to play against the best teams in the world and win. It was great to beat them once let alone twice.

Talk us through your wonder goal on the last day of the tournament against Germany when England won 2-1…

Yes, it was the best goal I’ve scored for England, and one of the best I’ve ever scored I think as it was against a top quality team. I received the ball just over the half way line ran with it for a while beating a couple of players and fired the ball in at the far post beating the goal keeper.

Were you pleased by England’s performance in the competition?
Very disappointed to have finished 7th. We went there with high expectations after a good year of performances. We played some very good hockey at the World Cup just a couple of results that let us down such as the draw with India and the draw with Spain, if we had won against Spain we would of made the semi-finals.

What about your own? (England’s top goal scorer for the Madrid World Cup on two)
I was pleased with my overall performance too. It’s a difficult format to stay fresh for, as we play so many matches in such a short time period. It’s always nice to score some goals, just need a few more than 2.

How did you start out in hockey?
I was lucky enough to start playing hockey at Dunmow’s primary school, where we had a good teacher that played hockey for the local town side (Dunmow Hockey Club, in Essex). I went on to play Mini’s and Junior hockey at Dunmow Hockey Club and continued to play at secondary school, Helena Romanes Secondary School. Carol Wooding, the Mum of England and Great Britain defender – Lisa Wooding – coached me at secondary school and we became English Indoor Schools Champions in 2002.

Is hockey an easy sport for youngsters to get into in the UK?
Yes, I believe so, a lot of schools play hockey and there are many clubs with Junior sections to start with and good coaches available.

Is it important to have strong female role models for young people in sport?
The sports world is dominated by male games such as football, rugby, cricket and even golf, and women seem to get very little publicity. The only time ladies are recognised is when they win gold such as Dennis Lewis and Kelly Holmes. It is key for young girls to have female role models who have achieved great things to encourage them. It’s the same for boys, how many want to play football because of players like David Beckham?

What advice would you give to somebody that wants to become an elite athlete?
Don’t take your sport too seriously when your young, keep playing and enjoying all sports for as long as you can. Dedication and commitment are key for long term success and reward but you have to enjoy what you are doing and all the hard work with it.

Who are your sponsors?
Gryphon supply my sticks and hockey equipment. Asics for my astrofturf trainers. Wilson James have provided support for all my club commitments for Chelmsford hockey club.

Is hockey a sport that places equal emphasis on the women’s and men’s game – or do you find the women’s game is sometimes second to the men’s?
I believe it is sometimes, especially in the media. But when the women’s team succeeds, like at the Commonwealth Games, we do get coverage.

Chelmsford go to Hamburg at the end of February for the European Indoor Clubs Championships – What’s the difference between indoor and outdoor hockey?
The indoor game is a lot faster and played in a normal sports hall. You can play the ball off of the walls. The rules are pretty similar except no hitting of the ball is allowed or lifting of the ball, only at goal. It’s a bit like five-a-side football with only six players on a team.

Can Chelmsford Ladies win the Championship, do you think?
It will be a tough ask to win as the Dutch and Germans are so good at indoor and play a lot more of it. In England, the indoor season consists of about 3 weekends of matches and that is it. We are training hard before we go, but honestly I don’t really know what to expect until we are there.

You’ve mainly played for Chelmsford – do you think it’s important to maintain some stability and stay at the same club?
I’ve played at Chelmsford now for 6 years, time goes very quickly! It does help your game and the club if you’re playing with the same people for a long period of time.

Does Chelmsford Ladies have a very strong team?
Yes. We have been in the National Premier League for a good number of years and have been pushing for playoff spots (top 4) over the last 3 years, and made the cup final last year. There are 3 international players who are in the England squad (Me, Lisa Wooding, and Katy Roberts) and 2 Irish international players (Ciara O’Brien and Emer Harte). We have a great Junior set up at the club for younger players to push through to the ladies’ 1st team, with number of youngsters playing in Premier League games this season.

EuroHockey Nations Championship takes place in August 2007 in Manchester – first game is England against Ireland are you looking forward to this competition?
It should be a great tournament, lot of work has gone in to it and promoting it. Hopefully I will be there playing, it will be grand as it will be my first major tournament on home soil in England and it’s an Olympic qualification route to Beijing 2008 (If England finish in the top 3). Tickets are available on ticketmaster.com!

What do you make of www.womensportreport.com?
It’s a fab website with up-to-date information and news on all sports. It’s good to see this happening for ladies.