The following players have been selected to represent England at the England Indoors Tri-Nation event at Fleming Park Leisure Centre, Eastleigh, from 19-21 December.
Women’s Squad
Name Indoor Club Caps (Goals)*
Ashleigh Ball Bowdon Hightown 1 (1)
Natasha Brennan Canterbury 6 (0)
Harriet Cunningham Slough 7 (0)
Becky Duggan (GK) Canterbury 6 (0)
Jo Ellis Bowdon Hightown 0 (0)
Charlotte Hartley Bowdon Hightown 0 (0)
Rebecca Herbert Leicester 0 (0)
Kirsty Mackay (GK) Bowdon Hightown 5 (0)
Sam Quek Bowdon Hightown 0 (0)
Nat Seymour Canterbury 7 (0)
Sally Walton Bowdon Hightown 7 (7)
Kerry Williams Leicester 0 (0)
Staff
Nick Clark Head Coach
Richard Organ Coach
Dan Tilley Manager
Ashleigh Wallace Physiotherapist
Roger Newcombe Videographer
*refers to indoor caps and goals only.
Six of the women selected for the Eastleigh tournament were also involved in England’s EuroHockey Indoor Nations Challenge campaign. Becky Duggan, Kirsty Mackay, Natalie Seymour, Harriet Cunningham, Natasha Brennan and Sally Walton all represented England at Ponds Forge. Similarly to the men, two of the England women were among the 18-athlete Great Britain Olympic Games squad. Jo Ellis helped steer GB to their sixth place finish in Beijing while Rebecca Herbert was a ‘P’ accredited travelling reserve.
The Christmas tri-nations event at Fleming Park will see England take on Australia and Scotland with each side playing each other twice in a round robin format. The series follows England’s return to international indoor hockey last season after an absence of eight years and provides the teams with tough competitive fixtures in a season without EuroHockey Nations competition.
The tournament also offers Women’s Head Coach Nick Clark the opportunity to measure his side’s progress: “We have selected a squad with a mixture of good outdoor and indoor experience. We had a good training weekend in Slough at which we worked on structure and playing style. We have a number of good athletes that will really benefit from a short but intense programme of indoor hockey. The tournament at Fleming Park will provide a good benchmark of where we stand and we aim to improve match by match.”
There were mixed emotions for England’s sides last time out at the end of three pulsating days of European hockey. The women’s competition featuring playoff matches to decide finishing positions, England narrowly missed out on promotion as they lost 3-2 to Denmark in the final.
