12 months ago, playing at a Senior European Championships or indeed even making a senior England debut felt a long way off for England’s Hannah Thurston.
The midfielder was a little more than three months into rehabilitation for a torn ACL that had derailed her return to the England setup following her dream stint playing NCAA Lacrosse in the US at Duke University.
“It was a completely innocuous incident in the first hour of an England training session,” Thurston recounts.
“We were just doing a drill, not even going full speed and I planted and my knee just went and I knew straight away.”
Thurston had returned to England after her university years in which she elected to put England sessions on pause in order to focus on almost full-time training at Duke alongside earning a degree across History and Political Science in which she was a four-time ACC Academic Honor roll student.
“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to deal with. I was in a good place, feeling confident and enjoying my lacrosse to then being on the sideline.”
Thurston had a whirlwind introduction to the world of international lacrosse when she was drafted into the England Under 19 World Championship squad at the age of just 15, going on to be a part of the squad that claimed a bronze medal in 2015 in Edinburgh.
“It’s a bit of a blur now - I was still in the Regional Academy before January of that year and hadn’t even played first team lacrosse I was still at Under 15 level.
“A few of us were called up to join the World Cup training squad and it was a terrifying but amazing experience. I was struggling to keep track of the ball it was moving so fast!”
“I had just told myself it was a great experience to be in the training squad and didn’t expect to get selected and then I remember I was on a school trip in Berlin and was in a underground bunker trying to get signal to open the selection email – it was a really rapid six months!”
But Thurston’s school lacrosse upbringing under the tutelage of Nicky Budd, Head Coach of the England U19s at that time as well as her Lady Eleanor Holles coach had clearly given Thurston the basis on which to succeed at a young age.
“She was hugely passionate and instilled the discipline and will to win in me and I’m sure to a lot of us that were in that group.” Thurston said of her coach.
Thurston’s LEH age group won the U15 National Schools Championship and then followed it up with the U19 Championship in her senior year.
“Our LEH year team was a really strong team, if you look at the England programme now you have Cece Green, Georgie Southorn, Charlie Wilson, Anna Saunter who all came through at the same time as me”.
“We were all part of the same team are we’re all good friends now so it’s amazing to be able to play together now for England.”
A hugely talented multi-sport athlete growing up, she was also in performance pathways across both cricket and athletics, holding the borough record for 300m, but it was lacrosse that always looked to have her heart and led her journey to the US.
“I started in Year 7 at LEH and I definitely loved lacrosse from day one.”
“I was lacrosse obsessed when I was younger and still am, I would stay up late into the night watching US college games or I’d have to wait patiently for them to upload things to YouTube and I’d be watching any clips I could get my hands on.”
In addition to her late night viewing, Thurston’s interest in playing abroad was further influenced by the senior players she met growing up, including one encounter with then England international Charlie Finnigan.
“Charlie had been at LEH and was then playing at UVA and she came back to coach at a camp at school and I saw she had all the matching kit, sticks, shoes and I thought it was so cool and wanted to have that too.”
Thurston’s club side Centaurs also had its well-established connection with LEH and at 13 she attended training with the team and some of its very well-known players including England’s Laura Merrifield.
“I remember playing for Centaurs as they trained at LEH and I was invited to go after school at 13, with all these top players like Laura Merrifield, Keely Harper, Ash Gloster.
“I remember especially Laura came up to me and shook my hand and introduced herself and I was like, I know who are you are!
“And there I’d hear about how she won the National Championship at Maryland and was an All-American and that was definitely an inspiration having those people around me.”
In the following years, Thurston put her efforts into securing her place in America, successfully attracting the attention of D1 Duke University, to give her the dream lacrosse experience; where Thurston found herself training five times a week and flying around the country to fixtures at the weekend.
Her Junior England career also continued to thrive, captaining the side to winning the U20 European Championship in 2018, before a year later leading the team at a second U19 World Championship, which ultimately ended in disappointment in the bronze medal match, though Thurston was named to the All-World team for her efforts.
But for a player who was used to being at the centre of things, her time at Duke brought to the fore her need for patience, and despite some relatively limited playing time, it’s Duke that Thurston credits to not only turning her into a better lacrosse player, but a better teammate and friend.
“It was hard coming from playing every minute of every game and then going there and not playing as much as you did or as much as I would’ve wanted in the end.
“But that experience taught me a lot of other values, I got better as a lacrosse player of course, but I also learned how to be a good teammate and friend and those are the values that have been so important in the last year.
“Yes, I’m not playing, but how can I still be a part of it and be a good teammate in other ways.”
And it’s those connections and friendships built through lacrosse that Thurston has had to draw on once again to help support her through her setback and recovery.
Friends and fellow England squad members Liv Thomas and Ximeng Wu both suffered the same injury in the months surrounding Thurston’s own injury and so a natural injury support group was formed.
“Me, Liv and Xi are in our own Whatsapp chat where we can ask each other questions about the process and tell each other how we’re feeling about things that other people might not necessarily understand as unless you go through it, it can be a hard one to understand.”
Thurston was also just six months into a new job working long hours and having to complete rehab now living independently and adjusting to adult life.
“Tom Beresford at England who has done a lot of my rehab has been unbelievable and don’t know what I would’ve done without having his support and the support of the England system.”
But now following the long recovery process, Thurston has come out of the other side and is beginning to get back into life as a fit and healthy lacrosse player as she seeks to return to the levels that she and her teammates know she can reach.
“It’s hard to get out of the mindset of being injured and think that I’m now a lacrosse player again and getting back up to the levels from before. And a lot of it can be a subconscious struggle wanting to protect myself.
“But I’ve learnt to be a bit kinder to myself and remind myself that I’m not going to be perfect as I’ve been away for a year.
“But while I’ve tried to enjoy it on the sideline, there’s no feeling like being in a team huddle and being on the pitch, you get a different bond.”
Now nearly a decade on from that Junior England debut, it looks like Thurston will now get the opportunity to be a part of that senior team huddle and at a major championship where she may well add further silverware and accolades to an already impressive honour roll.
“I’ve never played for the senior team and its taken nine years from playing for the U19s to hopefully now make my debut and get a first cap,” Thurston enthused.
“I’d like to walk away and think for the minutes I’ve played on field I’m happy with how I’ve performed and have played to a level that I’m happy with getting back to my best.”
England’s first game comes Tomorrow (Thursday 11 July) vs Finland at 2.30pm
