Last year they achieved comparably poor results compared to their usual form, with only five wins from 16, while they were able to play just three matches before the season was put on hold in February.
The constant grind of the Olympic cycle was weighing heavily for some: “I was driving on my way [to training] and I was all excited. I haven’t been excited about hockey in a while actually, or for the last six months, and speaking to the girls everyone felt the same,” Townsend said. “We were pushing, pushing, pushing to peak in Tokyo and the time away, it’s like anything, you don’t have something and you miss it – it makes the heart grow fonder.”
“You put everything in the whole Olympic cycle but the closer you get the more nerves come through, selection, everyone’s scared of injuries. And as disappointed as everyone was that it was postponed, at the same time it’s given us an extra year to make sure we do as good as possible.
Townsend says she thinks their chances of success at Tokyo are higher now they have gained more time: “We would have been okay in August, but I think we’ll definitely have a better chance next August and I don’t mind saying that at all. Time is only a blessing to us. This time away has made me love it again.”
McCallin agrees and says despite the return to action on the pitch and the team now having their provisional training schedule for the next 12 months laid out, the focus is on well-being and not a high-pressure countdown to Tokyo.
“In the news recently you see how quickly things can change, with Leicester going back into lockdown, so in that sense I don’t look too far in advance, just taking it week by week because of the fluid climate we’re in,” McCallin said. “I think as a team, cliche as it sounds, we have to take it step by step and ease our way back into it.”
