And if the hockey gods had twice been rallying England men from the touchlines above in 2023? Well, the ending to David Ames’ outstanding career as an international captain would have been heightened no doubt, yet the Cookstown native still leaves the game as one of the sport’s finest, most respected players.
To January 2023. The music had stopped, the Kalinga Stadium long emptied when Ames strode over to cast his verdict on the dispiriting, utterly heartbreaking exit to come-from-behind villains Germany in the World Cup quarter-final.
Ames, as captain, was never one caught short on words. He always spoke with clarity as a leader. Here, with his hands draped over the advertising hoardings, he said the result would “sting for a long time”.
Hockey, thanks to often being a lone British correspondent, can be an emotional sport to cover in an industry where, as a reporter, being jingoistic is frowned upon. I will never forget and will heartily admit that I did well to hold back a tear as the agony in Ames’ words rang out.
To August 2023 and the EuroHockey semi-final against Germany. Another shoot-out and this time a different outcome as England reached their first final since 2009. The standout moment, other than James Mazarelo’s heroics, was Ames smacking a first-time hit from the top of the circle. Wunderbar!
Optimism to the fore for the final, one where England were in the ascendancy late on searching for an equaliser but for video drama and falling short of gold.
We can talk about Paris 2024 in GB colours and how the red card in the India quarter-final played into their hands, but then this would be all about Ames as the nearly captain, not the classy player he was at the back and midfield or courteous man he was off it. He simply got better with age.
After the three-year international exclusion period, he switched nationalities from Ireland to England/GB and played close to 150 times. There were three Olympic Games. There were the surgeries, not least with the 24 weeks spent recovering from a knee op where he twice weighed up retirement.
Instead, he returned to lead England and GB at that 2023 World Cup, the start of a period where the men’s national side were turning themselves into world contenders under Ames and coach Paul Revington.
“I’m quite reserved, quite quiet and I have a really good group of leaders around me who I lean on very heavily,” he said prior to the Paris Games. Yet, in his own way Ames was anything but on the field, mannerisms that hockey is still likely to see on the coaching sidelines.
It’s now up to his successor and those leaders to capture — Ames, 36 in June, is also a keen amateur photographer — his attributes and take them into the next chapter.
