Interview with Ginny Coyles

What's your other Canoe/Kayaking background before/during Polo?

I’m pretty much a polo paddler through and through. Just after I first started paddling I did do a few slaloms, but think I might only have just got into Division 3 then called it a day, mainly because of clashes with polo, but I just didn’t find it as much fun. I have tried to do a little more training on moving water/gates over the past couple of years, just for a change of scenery, but also to help with boat technique. I don’t think I have the most technically correct or efficient paddling style at times, but can get a way with some things because of my size/strength. Though, on one or two of my recent river sessions I’ve spent more time practicing my rolling technique than anything else!

You started playing in Mutineers, How did you get involved with them?

I started canoeing when I was about 11 or 12 I think, just down at the local swimming pool. The club that I joined (West Cumbria Canoe Club) did a mix of general canoeing and slalom, but mainly polo. There was a women’s team who trained there called The Mutineers, which included Lynn Knowles and Jo Kirkbride and they happened to be the top ladies team in the country at the time. After I had just about learned to paddle in a straight line and throw the ball a bit, I got the chance to train with them a little. For one of the league tournaments, one of the girls had broken her leg skiing and couldn’t play, so they asked me if I wanted to play instead... and although I was probably a bit daunted by the whole thing I jumped at the chance. I’m sure Lynn and Jo regret asking me to play now, as they ended up having to drive me all over the country... and the world to play in different tournaments (which is still much appreciated!). We had a few player changes over the years, but the main members also included Caroline Bell, Annie Noble, Jo Longson and Jackie Marlow. It was a great team to play in as everyone wanted to play to win, but we still had a lot of fun trips along the way and made some good friends too. We also played in the men’s national league (up to Div 2), which certainly helped our play a lot, but upset one or two of the opposition sometimes! After winning quite a few ladies league and National Championship titles, the team disbanded in 1998, but most of us are still playing in different teams (I’m now with FOA Xclusive in the ladies).

You seem to have chosen to study and research subjects specifically to pursue your interest in polo. What are you doing right now ?

Yes, I have been an eternal student for most of the past ten years – mainly studying sports science and biomechanics. Although my first degree gave me the chance to look at some aspects of the game from a more scientific viewpoint (training programmes, throwing technique etc.), my PhD research was focused on the other end of the body - feet, legs and shoes, so not quite as applicable. I eventually had to get a job last year and am now working within a human sciences department of a research company, where the projects are slightly more ‘varied’. Though not everything I’ve studied has been directly applied to polo, I suppose being in a sport-oriented environment does give you the chance to pick up bits of information that you can apply to your own sport.

You must have been pretty disappointed in the GB girls performance at the Worlds in Essen...

I think disappointed is a bit of an understatement... completely gutted may be more fitting!

For one reason or another, I just don’t think things came together for us on the day... a difficult group in the second round with the top three seeds, and a few ‘unfavourable’ bounces of the ball... it just wasn’t our year.  Yes, we should have played a lot better, and as a player with a hand in coaching too, I should shoulder a bit of the responsibility for our performance. Having my parents and friends there supporting made it more disappointing as you feel like you’ve let them down too.

I know it’s a good sign that the women’s event is becoming more competitive, with 5 or 6 teams in real contention for winning the gold medal, but on a personal level, 5^th place was hard to take following our previous results. I think the most difficult thing for me was sitting in the stand watching all the big games on the final day, knowing what it’s like to play in those games, knowing that they were the games that you had trained for... but knowing that you couldn’t even get on the water, wasn’t easy. I know this probably sounds a bit harsh, as 5^th in the World isn’t a disgrace by any stretch, but I think any sports person should only have gold in mind.

What do you think about all this discussion on the Forum about the worlds best players ?

I think it is inevitable that people will discuss this type of thing, but in a team game it is almost impossible to come to an agreement. There are so many different skills and attributes that you need as a polo player, it would be difficult to find one player who excelled at all of them... one or two come very close, but they still need a good team to support them. I think the women sometimes get a bit of a raw deal in these discussions as the top men are always going to be stronger and faster, but there are a few very skilled women players out there who deserve the respect.

It was flattering to be mentioned, but a bit embarrassing. I always try to go out to play as hard as I can, but I know there is still quite a bit of room for improvement, which is what keeps me going I suppose... for how much longer though, I don’t know?!

Over the years you have been quite heavily associated with DB Designs. What's your involvement there and do you have any input into the development of new kit ?

Dave Brown has supported me for many years now, both by sponsoring me with all my kit and giving me a lot of guidance about training and my polo in general. I very much doubt that I would have achieved half of the things that I have without Dave’s support, so I’m very grateful.

I was at university in Liverpool, which is close to Dave’s workshop, so I used to train nearby and could try out his new designs. Dave has all the ideas for designs, then I usually just give my opinions as to how it feels on the water and possible suggestions for what might need to be adjusted, probably to Dave’s annoyance at times as I can be a bit fussy when it comes to my kit!

Tough one now. Some might suggest you keep your head down and out of the competition arena to allow a bit of catch up. What's your side of the story?

I don’t really think I’m the person to answer that question, but I’m not really sure that it is an issue as the standard of women players is improving all the time and I don’t think there is such a gap in the standard as there might have been in the past, certainly not at international level. Yes, I have been completely marked out of games on more than one occasion (which does make you question why you bother playing!), but not so much now, surely a sign that everyone’s play is improving (and hopefully not that I’m loosing it, although I know old age is catching up on me now!).

As a player, I think you should always be aiming to be the best you possibly can be... not just good enough to get in the team, you should still keep pushing yourself once you’re there to learn new skills and perfect the basics. I know this is not always easy given that polo is not a professional sport, but you have to make the most of what you can and make some sacrifices along the way. Perhaps I’ve sacrificed a little too much to get where I am or might have been a little too single minded in achieving things, but I think I would still try to be the same even if I didn’t compete for a while – maybe just a natural competitive instinct. I suppose what I’m saying is that it shouldn’t matter whether I play or not, it should be the individual’s attitude towards playing that determines how well they perform not necessarily their opposition or team mates. Though surely it can only be beneficial to play with and against better players to motivate you to improve your individual skills even more and to help with team cohesion?

Very Diplomatic.

Who are the players to watch around the world and what teams are likely to push through to the top in Ladies polo.

As I’ve said already, the women’s game is improving every year and there are a lot of strong paddlers playing, so it’s difficult to name everyone. In my humble opinion, the main players to look out for are Anne Reimers from Germany (No 2), who is an excellent all round player – very strong, young and double world champ already. The whole of the German team are very strong, hence their success, so I’d also mention Ortrud Kibbel (? No 8) and Lena Weinberger (? No. 5), who did her job of scoring goals extremely well in Essen. Valerie Adalberon (No 5) has been in the French team for many years and is certainly a dominant player – another very good all rounder with great balance on the ball and excellent shot. The Dutch ladies are becoming stronger and stronger each year and although they have been unlucky in recent championships, the tournaments are much stronger now that they are playing  - Marsha Tiessen is certainly one to watch from this team, especially the speed of her shots! The Australians have always had a very strong team base and fantastic determination, so it’s difficult to single out individuals, but I’d say their main stay players that I’ve played against would be Carolyn Cochrane, Gail Songberg and Juliette Makin (certainly the most frustrating goal keeper that I’ve tried to score past over the years!), but they definitely have other very strong players over there... GB is the difficult one for me, since it’s a bit too close to home! We’ve had quite a few team changes over the past few years, and again this year, but the core of players to watch would be Philippa and Lianne Grayson, Andi Fear-Ross and Kirsty Sutcliffe.

As for the teams that are likely to push through to the top... I’m obviously aiming to see Great Britain up there with gold again in Japan! I can see the Dutch pushing through to their true position, but other teams who I’d think would be on the up would be Spain and Italy perhaps, as they have very strong men’s teams to look towards and maybe New Zealand who seemed to perform well at the Worlds.

Here in Britain, we allow the girls to play with the boys - if they are good enough. How do you find playing Ladies polo compared to the Men's game ?

I have been really lucky to play with the St Albans men’s team. Playing with some of the players who I consider to be the best in the world has certainly been an experience... not an easy ride, as there are still high expectations from everyone, but really enjoyable.

Playing with and against the men is a real challenge for me, physically and mentally. In a women’s game, I’m probably one of the stronger paddlers (strength wise), but not in the men’s, so I have to think a lot more about ‘damage limitation’ – where do I need to position my boat to stop someone skinning me, or sprinting away from me? How do I stop myself being moved around too much as a zone player? How can I control the ball when my team-mate has just blasted it to me at about 100 miles/hour?! Probably the biggest difference is how quickly you get closed down when you are in possession of the ball – and how you need to make your pass before you get flattened! In the women’s games you have a lot more time on the ball to decide what to do, and usually aren’t pressured as much. I think the women’s teams probably play a more tactical game at times than some of the men, and don’t just rely on their strength, though at international level the games are certainly speeding up. As the GB team, we have often played in the open division of competitions (2^nd Class) to push us a little harder against stronger opposition, and we have done quite well on some occasions because of the tactics we’ve used and some of the individual skill levels.

I think it is a great benefit for women to play with and against the men if they can, primarily to learn how to play at a faster pace – not just paddling speed, but reactions and moving the ball around the pitch. I’ve had chance to train a lot with some of the men’s team players and don’t think they have ever been too easy on me, so I’ve always had something / someone to aim towards (and someone to keep my feet firmly on the ground!), where as the top men may not always have this kind of motivation.

It does seem sometimes, that while women benefit from playing with/against men, they then revert back to what you describe as “a more tactical” game, which many men would view as slow and boring – knowing that many of the women playing are much better than that being demonstrated. The phrase “Playing up or down to the level of your opponent” springs to mind. What do you think ?

Yes, I’d agree that some women’s games are quite ‘painful’ to watch and play in. I think your right that players do play up or down to their opponents on some occasions, the latter of which can be very frustrating, particularly when you know how much better a team or individuals can play. I think this is more a mental/psychological problem than anything else, as people will usually put in more effort to meet a stronger challenge, but are maybe happy to have an easy ride against weaker opposition. I’ve often wondered how we can get over this problem, but it still seems to keep happening – any suggestions would be very welcome?!

What would you say about the progress of the Asian teams we saw at the 2002 World Champs in Essen ? Do you think it’s all too easy for Westerners and in particular Europeans to underestimate their rate of progress and right them off ?

Unfortunately I didn’t get chance to watch too many of the Japanese / Chinese Taipei games in Essen, but I know that they do have some very skilful players. Perhaps their rate of progress is more rapid than some other teams, but this is probably due to their lower starting levels than the top European teams (i.e. polo is a younger sport in those countries) – progress will probably plateau eventually. I don’t think the Europeans would write them off, particularly with the Worlds being in Japan next time, as a home competition is certainly an incentive to any team/nation to do the best they can – as the Germans showed at the Worlds.

How can we sell this game to potential new Women players ?

Good question, I’m not sure that I can answer that one either! Polo is a great sport – the mix of skills involved and dynamic nature makes it quite addictive to play and each game is quite different. It’s also one of very few contact sports that allow mixed competition (only in some countries I know), which might be tempting for women who are looking for an extra challenge! I know it can be a fun and sociable sport, with different teams from around the country/world competing, but it would be good if more of the ‘fun’ players would be willing to make the next step to play on a more serious level... yes, there are probably more women playing, but if more people took this next step, then competition for national team places would increase and should push the general standard of women’s polo forward. I know it is still quite a difficult sport to get into, due to the basic paddling skills required and cost of equipment etc., but if the profile of the top end of the sport can be raised and recognised, it may provide a greater incentive for new women players to give it a go... a bit of a chicken and egg scenario I suppose.

Again, if anyone has any thoughts on this, it would be interesting to hear – perhaps I’ve been around too long and it might be better to find out what has attracted newer women paddlers to start playing?

What’s a typical training session for you ? How does it vary from Winter to Summer ?

Training sessions would usually depend on the time of year – doing longer aerobic paddles over the winter / early part of the season, followed by longer sprints (anaerobic power – game specific if possible e.g. circuits on gates), then finally shorter, acceleration type sprints leading up to the main championships. Ideally I’d do a few ball skill and games sessions each week too, but I’ve struggled over the past few years with a shoulder problem, so I have just tried to do what I could.

Do you use the Gym for any real training ?

No, I’ve never really used the gym for training – I know I probably should and have often wanted to have a better general level of fitness, but have never quite managed it. I’ve always preferred to get in my boat, and though it can be a bit cold over the winter (character building!!), at least you are training the specific muscles for the sport and getting a better feel for how your boat responds to different strokes.

To close, can you give us 3 motivational statements for Women polo players who want to reach the top ?

Hmmm? Thanks!... another tough one! Not sure if these are motivational, but a few thoughts that have kept me going.

At the Europeans in Rome (1995) we (GB) were beaten in the final by Germany (again!!) and were given a trophy that was inscribed with ‘2^nd Best’... slightly better than 1^st looser I suppose, and although it rubbed salt in the wounds at the time it was certainly an incentive to work hard to make it to the next level. To reach the top, I think you’ve got to aim at the very top - Don’t accept being 2^nd best to anyone! Though we haven’t managed it too many times in big Championships, the feeling that you get when you win certainly makes the pain worthwhile.

 ..... just one last quote that I think is quite a good philosophy for polo -

Enough of my waffle now I think!

2nd May 2003