Ireland ‘to dream a little bigger’ after trio’s Aussie trip

Captain Katie Mullan, Roisin Upton and Sarah Hawkshaw are all returning as Ireland’s women are putting the final touches to their preparations for the Olympic qualifiers in Valencia in January.

The trio are back after a three-month adventure down under, where they recently helped Canberra Chill to a runners-up finish in Australia’s State Championship.

It all started over a cup of coffee the previous year.

Matt Cook, Chill’s head coach, was in Europe on an International Hockey Federation coaching course and was attending the Nations Cup in Spain, where he met with Ireland coach Sean Dancer.

He informed Dancer that the Canberra franchise team were able to bring import players into their competition. The Irish coach immediately knew this was a “unique opportunity” for “key players” Mullan, Upton and Hawksworth.

“It offered the players a chance to focus on themselves, rather than team leadership and develop key areas of their own game, in a new and exciting environment on the other side of the world,” Dancer said.

After taking time to consider the offer, the Irish trio decided it was an opportunity they wanted to embrace.

“I would never would see my role and responsibility with Ireland as a as a weight or an additional pressure,” skipper Mullan said.

“But, like anything, stepping outside the box that you’ve been in for so long, it creates more space and more capacity.

“When I was away in Australia, I used that space and capacity to really hone in and focus on my own game.”