EDITION 1 - FEBRUARY 2007

Rising Stars - Becky Merchant

Becky Merchant

Becky Merchant describes Lance Armstrong as “unreal”.  Becky, one of three Scottish-ladies hockey players to have won gold in Sydney in January with the GB Youth Olympic squad, cites the accomplishments of the legendary cyclist as one of her primary motivations.  She often reads his books, and describes him as the main athlete outside hockey who she tries to emulate:  “I find his whole winning attitude incredibly inspiring.  His mentality that second will never be good enough and to never give up is just unreal.”

However, for a 19 year old, Becky herself is quite ‘unreal’.  To begin with, such is her desire to succeed in hockey, that she has postponed her medical degree and relocated herself from Surrey in South-East England to Eastern Scotland, playing for Bonagrass Grove, in Dundee.  And having represented Scotland U21s as well as making the GB Youth squad, shades of her hero Armstrong are already starting to shine through, as she explained to In The Winning Zone: “I think you have got to have the desire to win.  You want to go out and perform.  You have to be committed to training a lot of hours per week and performing every time you go out to play, and performing to your best.”  

And what better motivation to perform than the reward of a trip to Australia to compete (and win) against the world’s best at the Youth Olympics?  But what is ‘performance’ to Becky?  Should youth players in an amateur sport strive to live by the same ethos as a highly paid professional?

“I am part of the East of Scotland Institute of Sport, and they are expecting a lot of commitment.  They tell me that everything has got to now focus on hockey, and everything else should be second best from that.”  Without detracting from the importance of her education and degree, Becky has done just that, and now trains to a similar standard expected of any pro.


“Our coach Dave Stott has two one-on-one sessions with us every week, as well as group sessions.  At the beginning of the season you put forward your three main goals and from that every individual can focus on their objectives, and he is very good at tailoring your coaching for you, to make the best of certain skills.”  Moving onto the intensity of their training, she continued:  “Over the summer we were together as a team for almost six weeks back to back, so we did team building stuff in the evening.  We do lots of different exercises.  They are very good at getting through lots of stuff in any one day to make sure that no-one gets bored doing the same thing all the time.”

Having spent most of her hockey playing (and natural) life in England, Becky has been impressed with the coaching expertise available since her move up north:  “I find the coaching really good here in Scotland.  Dave [Stott] and Mike Gilbert are excellent.  I find they are all really individual.  They are very good tactically, and they will tell you to do something, and you go out on the pitch and do it and it will work.  I think you need a coach that you have a lot of respect for, and then you just take on board every word they say.”

However, having given up her studying for a year, Becky now finds she has extra time outside of her scheduled training to continuously improve her fitness and conditioning.  Not all of us would jump at the prospect of unpaid overtime or extra homework, but for Becky it is just another step in the direction of fulfilling her dream of competing in the 2012 Olympics, which she views as ‘the peak’ of hockey achievement.

“You have to learn to self motivate, it is so important.  You have to get up for a training session or a run and you really have to push yourself, because you can go for a session and do it half-heartedly and get nothing from it.  Sometimes you are tired and it’s dark outside, but you just have to get up and do it and not think about it.  Get out there and do it and enjoy the good feeling afterwards.”


Becky is quite adamant to confirm the fact that respect and victory on the hockey pitch should be earned.  And, like her role model Armstrong, the only way to earn it is through hard work.  Not only in her training as she mentioned, but being mentally strong as well as physically fit in a competition atmosphere is vital:  “A lot of it is about mentality.  If you come second or third, but you know you have played your best, then that’s what you deserve.  But if you come second knowing you didn’t play well on the day and that you could have won, then it is more frustrating.”

For a player so young Becky displays a remarkable maturity in her mantra as an athlete.  At 19 years old, competing in a sport for which you don’t get paid, there is little tangible reward to resist the temptation of falling into the debauchery of normal student life.  But then again, perhaps when Becky finishes writing her postcards and looks over her shoulder to see Sydney Harbour Bridge glimmering as immaculately as the gold medal around her neck, she will appreciate that is reward enough.


RO

© In The Winning Zone, MMVII, All Rights Reserved