England international and legend of the game Lucy Lynch has called time on an illustrious career after taking the decision to retire from international lacrosse.
Lynch, England women’s record cap holder with 101 appearances and the first to become a centurion for her country, chose late last year to bring a close to nearly 20 years of international competition.
With a World Cup originally set for 2021, the temptation was there to go for a fifth world event, however with a growing family, and working as a housemistress at Benenden School, it seemed to be the right moment to step away.
“My son was born just before the start of the Euros in 2019 and I was always going to have some time off following that, after which I needed to turn up for September training if I wanted to be part of the next squad.
“I’d had a year off and by the time September came around, I had another child about to be born and thought if I don’t do it now, I never will.
“I didn’t think I could do all three of work, family and lacrosse well and I have masses of respect for those players who are mothers; Laura Merrifield, Laura Warren (Wales) and Courtney Hobbs (Australia), how they do their jobs, look after the kids and then do training, hats off to them.”
Such was Lucy’s natural talent for lacrosse and sport in general, she was quickly identified as a potential star of the future, and her self-confessed showboating style made her stand out.
“I liked to score the goals and I got hat tricks against the USA, hat tricks against Australia I was a bit of a prima donna, a totally different player to the player I am today.”
“I don’t think I was massively tactically aware at that point, all I did was get the ball, run and go to goal, whereas now, I do the boring jobs like the ground balls, but back then I was totally different.
Lucy doesn’t attribute her transformation as a conscious change but more as one that developed as a case of circumstance.
After putting in a star performance at the 2003 U19 World Championship, she suffered a nasty leg break playing rugby which initially curtailed her swift rise.
“When I broke my leg, I couldn’t play for a year and a half but still went on all the England tours as manager and did all the videoing and that really did help me tactically.”
“Also at the time my first England coach, Lois Richardson, was all about the tactics and the defence. She didn’t really like anyone that was too flashy, and I just used to listen to every single word that she said.
But Richardson recognised the development in Lucy and prior to her 100th cap in 2019, she looked back at her impact on the game.
Richardson said: “For me, Lucy’s greatest strength was her cast-iron mentality. Under the toughest and most challenging match conditions I knew she was able to think correctly under pressure.
“This she did when scoring goals at vital moments, none less so than in a sudden death victory in the 2005 World Cup to take England to a Bronze medal”.
A senior career that started in 2002 in Wantage as a 17-year-old playing against Scotland at Home Internationals, has taken Lynch all over the world and picking one defining highlight proved difficult.
From bronze medals at the 2005 and 2017 World Cups, to an historic 2-1 Test Series win in Australia in 2016, the energetic midfielder’s career has been storied and successful and she looks back particularly at her first World cup appearance with fondness.
“I remember my first World Cup game which was against the USA, in the US and it was the opening ceremony followed by the match.
“There was a whole stack of people there and I remember taking it all in thinking this is an amazing feeling and then I scored, I ripped one underarm from the 15 into the top corner and it’s really the first big exciting thing that sticks in my mind.”
Her enduring career would see her play with a remarkable 149 other players on the journey to become England’s most capped international and from her early days to now, she says the players involved still have the same fight and determination as ever.
“We still have amazing women who are self-motivated and really want it. You've got to have a certain drive to do a sport where you have to fund yourself and you have to motivate yourself and the players now still have the same in terms of their desire and their drive to succeed.”
“I’ve been so lucky to have had such a long career and I’ve loved it but I felt it was probably time to step aside and let the next generation do their thing.”
And While Lucy is content in bringing her playing career to a close, looking to the future, she is keen to still be involved in the game if possible.
“I would still love to be involved in the sport I love and help in the future where I can, whether that be under 19s or under 23s.
“One for my own personal enjoyment but two, to give back - I took for years of playing for England so I feel like it would be a good thing to do if I can and it’s still a huge part of my life, but we’ll just wait to see what happens.”
Lucy joked: “I'd love to still get out on the pitch, but I couldn't do that level of commitment with my life anymore.
“I think I’m happy with a glass of wine and watching CBeebies with the kids!”
Lucy Lynch after winning gold at the 2019 European Championship, which would be her final game for England.