Hockey
How I became pro: Maddie Hinch
The world number one female hockey goalkeeper reveals how she overcame the doubters to become an elite champion.
Maddie Hinch was the star of the GB hockey team in Rio after her incredible saves in the final penalty shootout helped her team win the gold. Since then, she's stayed at the top of her game. She has been named Female Goalkeeper of the Year by the International Hockey Federation for the past three years, and recently saw the podium again with a bronze in Tokyo.
Yet with more than 100 caps playing for her country, an MBE, and, of course, a gold and bronze medal, she isn't yet ready to rest on her laurels.
Despite all her achievements, Maddie admits she's never had the build of a traditional goalkeeper, and her ability was often questioned when she was younger. So, how did she overcome the doubters to become the best in the world?
“It's taken grit, patience and determination,” she admits. “It's been a rollercoaster but I have enjoyed the ups and downs. I'm lucky that I have been able to make playing hockey my full-time career.”
Talent spotted
Maddie had to prove that her athleticism could be an advantage in goal
© Patrik Lundin / Red Bull Content Pool
It all started when Maddie's potential was spotted by a teacher when she started at a new school.
“My dad was in the Navy so I moved around a lot when I was younger,” she recalls. “When I was about 13, I started at a new school in Somerset. It was the summer term when rounders was being played. A teacher saw me diving for the ball and said I should try playing as the keeper in the hockey team when the new season started in September, as she thought I would be perfect in goal.”
Maddie jokes: “I don't know if she really spotted any natural ability or they just needed a goalkeeper for the team and thought, 'Let's get the new kid to do it.' But it's all thanks to her that I gave it a go. It wasn't a position I would have considered playing previously, as I had always wanted to be running around and in the thick of the action.”
Maddie admits she didn't love the position immediately. "I felt like all I was doing was standing around or picking the ball out of the back of the net,” she said. "It took time for me to learn what it was all about, but once I did, I loved it.”
You have to have a relentless attitude and be strong-minded
She went on to play for Kings College, Taunton, after winning a scholarship to attend the boarding school, and was then selected to play for the county – one of the first big milestones in her career.
“Everyone at school told me I was good, but playing for the county was a chance to test myself outside the school environment and see if I really was as good as people said,” she says.
However, while there were many people who supported and nurtured her talent – there were others who doubted it. “I didn't look like other goalkeepers at that time,” she explains. “I was smaller and more athletic. I was often told I wouldn't be good enough.”
Maddie was determined to prove them wrong and show that her athleticism and agility could be an advantage in goal. “You have to have self-belief as an athlete and be strong-minded,” she said. “I wasn't going to give up.”
Dedicated student
At Loughborough, Maddie realised that hockey was a viable career choice
© Patrik Lundin / Red Bull Content Pool
It was when she became a student at Loughborough University, where she studied sports science, that she decided to take her hockey more seriously. Around the same time, hockey was being given extra funding to enhance the GB teams ahead of the big event in London.
This made being a hockey player a viable career choice, and not just a hobby, so Maddie was determined to make the team. This meant she didn't live like a typical student.
“I don't like the term 'making sacrifices' to play hockey, because the sport has given me so much, but if I had to pick something, I would say it was when I first started at Loughborough,” she said. “Even though it was a sporty uni, my hall of residence didn't have anyone in it who was taking sport as seriously as I was.
“It was hard to explain to people when I couldn't go out all the time in Freshers' Week. That made it difficult for me to settle into uni life early doors. I missed out on a lot of nights out.”
The trouble with playing as the goalkeeper is you can't switch to a different position if there is someone better than you. There's only one on the team, so you have to be the best
She adds: “In many ways, being a student was the most challenging time of my life. It was intense because I was studying for a degree at the same time as training hard every day, with early morning and late evening sessions around lectures.”
Her hard work paid off, and she was selected to play for England in 2008, sharing the time in goal with another up and coming keeper.
Maddie was keen to prove she should stay in goal for an entire international match, and become GB, as well as England's, first choice goalkeeper. But she knew it wouldn't be easy.
“The trouble with playing as the goalkeeper is you can't switch to a different position if there is someone better than you,” she says. "There's only one on the team, so you have to be the best.”
She got her shot in 2010 when she was called up to make her GB debut in a match against Germany.
“I couldn't believe it when I saw my name on the team sheet,” she said, "it was such a surprise. This was my chance to prove myself.”
Staying on top
In her first three matches, Maddie was awarded goalkeeper of the tournament
© Patrik Lundin / Red Bull Content Pool
Maddie loved her first experience of playing for GB and was in contention for the 2012 team. She was gutted when she wasn't selected.
She took the knock-back on the chin and came back stronger, with 2013 being the best year of her hockey career so far.
“A lot happened in a short space of time,” she said. “By the age of 26, I became England and GB's number one goalkeeper. That felt really cool. I had been playing since I was 13, now I was the country's number one, after many people had told me I would never be good enough.”
I knew there were other girls who wanted the position on the team, I had to make it difficult for anyone to take it away from me
But Maddie knew she couldn't be complacent. "The shirt was now mine to lose,” she said. “I knew there were other girls who wanted the position on the team, I had to make it difficult for anyone to take it away from me.”
As the team worked towards the event in Rio, Maddie did everything she could to ensure she would play well.
Giving an insight into what it takes to be a world-best keeper, she says: "As well as playing hockey with the team, I work out in the gym doing weights and strength and conditioning work. My regime differs to the other players in that I have to do more sprint training and more super-explosive exercises.”
When it comes to the mental side of the game, she said: "It's best to be prepared. I watch videos of the opposition and practise what I would do in a penalty shootout. You have to have self-belief. I always know if I have prepared, practised and then do my best, if a match doesn't go my way, then I can't have any regrets.”
Life-changing saves
Maddie was named Female Goalkeeper of the Year three years in a row
© Patrik Lundin / Red Bull Content Pool
Matches kept going Maddie's way, as in 2014 she helped England win silver at the Commonwealth Games, and then gold with GB at the Euro Hockey Champs. This gave the team the confidence to believe they could become champions, but that came down to the wire in the final against the Netherlands.
The gold medal hung on a penalty shootout in which Maddie made a string of saves, making GB being victorious, and her a hero back home.
You have to have self-belief as an athlete and be strong-minded. I wasn't going to give up
“It was mental going home,” she recalls. "Becoming a champion changed my life. For six months I couldn't go anywhere without being recognised, and I was invited to be on TV shows I used to watch at home. Everyone was talking about hockey and there was a real buzz around the sport.”
Maddie continued to be on a career high after Rio, being named Female Goalkeeper of the Year in 2017 by the International Hockey Federation, an accolade she won again in 2018 and 2019.
Also in 2017, she was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List.
Now Maddie added another medal to her list of achievements, with a bronze in Tokyo.
Next goal
Maddie has her sights on another gold medal at Tokyo 2020
© Patrik Lundin / Red Bull Content Pool
How did she do it? Did she feel the pressure? “Yes,” she admitted, but in true GB fashion, she carried on as before to ensure she went to the games as fit, strong and prepared as she could be.
When she's not busy training, Maddie has been giving back to the sport by setting up her own coaching programme for young, aspiring goalkeepers.
She was amazed and delighted that hundreds of hopefuls signed up for the course last summer, and she hopes even more will be inspired by Tokyo.
So, what's the best piece of advice she can give to aspiring hockey players, who hope to achieve as much as she has so far?
“You have to have a relentless attitude and be strong-minded,” she said. "Work hard, be patient, and go for it when you are given opportunities. It's a rollercoaster of ups and downs but enjoy the journey and never give up.”
