Miriam Pritchard has a new sketchbook at the ready if she needs to get away from it all at her first Olympic Games, writes Tom Harle.
One of six debutants, Pritchard is Team GB’s goalkeeper in the 16-strong women’s squad for Paris 2024 as she puts her sideline as an award-winning illustrator to one side over the next month.
The 25-year-old won the Site Specific category at the 2021 World Illustration Awards for her illustrations that celebrate the diversity of Loughborough, the city in which she studied.
“It’s something I love to have alongside my hockey,” said Pritchard. “It’s something completely different, two different sides of my personality.
“Even on camps, it’s nice to have that switch-off and not be constantly thinking about hockey. I can go out, I can draw and it makes me a much happier person.
“I’ve just bought a new sketchbook, so I’m planning to take it to Paris and do as much drawing as I can.”
Pritchard, whose grandparents and father are both artists, won the award for a series of bathroom murals in the Public and Plants coffee shop in Loughborough.
“I’d like to do more illustration in public places,” said Pritchard. “If my work brings a smile to one person’s face, it’s a good thing.”
Pritchard was playing for a club second team when she first broke into the GB programme at Bisham Abbey. She has spent lots of time as a reserve in recent years, behind established No.1s Maddie Hinch and Sabbie Heesh.
“I’ve had to work my way into both the club scene and the international scene,” said Pritchard. “A lot of goalkeeping is spent on the bench, being patient, waiting your turn but also working as hard as you can to get better and better.
“The last three years in particular have been really difficult in that respect but it’s worked out, I suppose. All of the hard work, all of the dreaming and all of the hours of training.”
Team GB’s last female goalkeeper at the Olympics was Maddie Hinch at Tokyo 2020, who had a big influence on Pritchard’s decision to pursue the position.
“What Maddie did for goalkeeping was huge – she made it cool,” said Pritchard. “She was a huge inspiration for me. It’s about standing on her shoulders, not in her shadow.”
Heesh, a reserve in Tokyo, looked set to start between the sticks in Paris but a cruelly-timed injury means Pritchard will be Team GB’s number one in the French capital.
“I love Sabs and her journey has not been easy,” said Pritchard. “She has put in so much hard work and sat on the bench for a long time.
“Obviously I’m pleased to be selected and very happy to be part of Team GB and going to the Games but part of me will be playing for her.”
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Good luck Miriam, stay strong and always believe, that is how the team won Gold and Bronze medals in previous Olympics, we can do it.