New mum Pinner on being a GB hockey trailblazer

Jo Pinner has 77 combined caps for Great Britain and England

Creating history and inspiring the future have long formed part of GB Hockey's mantra, but Jo Pinner is going about it in a very different way to her team-mates.

"It's a hard place to be but it's a cool place to be," said the 32-year-old.

"One of our visions as a squad is to create history and I think this is a moment in my career where I'm hopefully doing that."

And, should she be selected, she could make that history even more impressive next year if GB qualify for the Paris Olympics - which, starting on 26 July, would come little more than a year after Josh's arrival.

"I think it would be a really good message to other women who might not think that's an option," Pinner told BBC Sport. "That's one of my big drivers now. When I was thinking I want a family, no one had really done it in the modern era of hockey.

"I feel like if I can do it and prove to other women it's possible then it will only help them in the future. I'm sure they will still have doubts, but they've seen it can be done so I think that's really powerful."

'I think it's quite remarkable'

Monday, 18 September 2023 was a momentous day for Pinner, the day she picked up a stick for the first time as a new mum.

She has since also played her first club hockey game for Reading, but despite her return to the England and Great Britain programme, Pinner is well aware she faces a race against time to get back to full fitness.

"I'd always intended to come back and train with the team with the hope of going to the Olympics next year," said the Commonwealth Games medallist.

"When I was pregnant it didn't seem that much of a big deal, in a weird way. Obviously, I knew it was, but now that I'm here I think it's quite remarkable that I've managed it in this short frame of time.

"What my body has been through with being pregnant, giving birth and getting back is something it's never had to do before. It is much more remarkable than I thought it would be.

"I think when I was pregnant I was in that athlete mindset and thought it would be fine to have a baby, then get back to training. Time frames are very different when you're rehabbing an injury versus getting back after having a baby."

A ruptured hamstring followed by her pregnancy meant Pinner was away from hockey for 17 months, and she admits the return to action has been a "shock" to the system.

"More than I expected probably," she said. "I probably underestimated the physical challenge it would be. I've never felt stiffness or the inability to move like I've felt these past couple of weeks, just because my body hassn't done it in so long.

"I'm generally a player who's quite naturally fit and I can run a lot. I had a lot of people saying when I was pregnant that I'd be fine and bounce back and that I don't have anything to worry about. I believed that too.

"I think I have bounced back, but maybe underestimated what the step would be coming straight back into elite training with my team. I quite literally haven't been able to move midway through some sessions."

'Josh will see how great his family are'

Pinner's return to life as an elite hockey player would not have been possible without the help of her nearest and dearest. Husband George is a former England and GB goalkeeper who went to three Olympics, so is well aware of the demands of the sport.

She has also received support from rower Helen Glover - who has three children - and other sporting mothers, connected by a WhatsApp group that Pinner says has acted as a "safety blanket".

"It is comforting to see that other women have done it because you know that it is possible," Pinner said.

"Having these conversations, firstly, normalises it in terms of it being OK to have a baby and then go and play hockey - you're not abandoning your child, so to speak. It's good to hear that and also to hear that they [the mothers] physically got back to where they wanted to in the time frame."

She added: "For my little boy growing up, just realising what you can achieve - the sky's the limit. I know it's cliche, but I want to show him that when he grows up he can do anything he wants if he really tries.

"Josh will see how great his family are around him because I'm relying so much on my husband and my family, friends and team-mates to help bring Josh up in this short time frame while I'm training.

"Obviously, he's going to be so diddy so he won't know, but when he's older he can look back and realise and hopefully learn some good things that he can take into his life."