By Justin Feil, Special Writer
While Kathleen Sharkey was disappointed to miss the Pan American Games and several months that followed it after breaking her ankle, it could have been worse.
“When it initially happened last summer, I was thankful that it happened in the summer of 2015 and not the summer of 2016,” said the 2013 Princeton University graduate. “That drove me through my rehab. It was tough to miss those Pan American Games, but at the same time I was happy it happened a year out from the Olympics.”
Sharkey’s ankle was surgically repaired and she had plenty of time to return to shape and make her case to be on the United States women’s field hockey team. Sharkey was selected in the beginning of July along with fellow Princeton alumnae Katie Reinprecht and Julia Reinprecht to be on the 16-woman team. It’s the Reinprecht sisters’ second Olympic Games, but it is Sharkey’s first.
“I’m absolutely so excited to have made the final roster,” Sharkey said. “It’s any athlete’s dream come true to be able to play in the Olympic Games, the highest level you can reach as an athlete. I think it’s going to be really special. I can’t wait to go down there and compete.”
The United States was disappointed in its showing in the 2012 Olympics, but is more hopeful about its chances in Rio. The U.S. is ranked fifth in the world and they come off a third-place finish at the Hockey Champions Trophy in London at the end of June.
“It was a really great opportunity for our team to be there because we were playing against five of the best teams in the world,” said Sharkey who had one goal in the tournament. “It was great to see how we match up against those top teams in a tournament where the results didn’t matter. The results of the Olympics will, so we kept calling it our dress rehearsal for Rio. It was a great opportunity to see how we match up against those teams. Then we had about three and a half weeks of training after England before we leave for Rio to tweak some things and change some things.”
Sharkey has been a part of history before when she helped Princeton University’s team win the NCAA Championship in 2012. Since then, she has garnered more international experience and is ready to compete at the highest level.
“Through all the stage of my career, I’ve played in some big games that could only help with the stage of the Olympics,” Sharkey said. “For me, it’s just another international field hockey tournament. We’ve had every year a major international tournament every single summer. It’s just another one of those, but there’s just going to be more people watching.
“It is my first Olympics, but I am nowhere near satisfied with just going to the Olympics and playing there,” she said. “I want our team to go there and absolutely dominate. I’m ready to go and compete.”
Sharkey won’t let anything distract her chance for a medal. While there have been concerns raised about the safety and wellness of athletes, she has kept her focus on the competition on the field.
“The Olympics only come once every four years, and the sacrifices that me and my teammates have made over these past couple of years, the work, and effort and the number of hours we’ve put in, I don’t think there was any thought to pass up the opportunity to go,” Sharkey said. “Also, it’s a team sport. They’re relying on me and I’m relying on them. We need everyone to be there. The U.S. Olympic Committee has given us a lot of information about the various factors in Rio. I think they have the situation in control and we’re in good friends. I’ve let those bodies deal with the issue and I’ve just been focusing on my training.”
In the Olympics, the U.S. is in Pool B with No. 2 Argentina, No. 3 Australia, No. 7 Great Britain, No. 10 Japan and No. 13 India. They start with a challenging opener against Argentina on Aug. 6.
“Great Britain, Argentina and Australia were in the Champions Trophy,” Sharkey said. “We played India in a test series this past week (of July 17) and we just played Japan in a test series in November. We’ve played everyone in our pool in the last eight months or so which is definitely an advantage.”
And coming off a strong showing at the Champions Trophy can only help. The U.S. knows its strengths and weaknesses.
“I think we just needed to make some changes on game management,” Sharkey said. “We gave up some early goals as well as some goals late in the game so it’s being able to manage the game for 60 minutes based on the score. Also tightening some things up on defense and learning various matchups against the different teams. And penalty corners, seeing how they work gave us an idea of what we need to fine tune.
“We did really well,” she added. “We were the lowest ranked team there and finished with a bronze medal. It was huge for our entire program to get that medal. We left London in positive spirits, we did really well but saw what we had to work on. It’s nothing major, but tweaks here and there to make sure we’re performing at our best in Rio.”
Sharkey is looking to help at the offensive end. Her one goal in the Champions Trophy came on a penalty corner.
“As a forward, I’m just trying to create as many scoring opportunities I can and also to finish any I get as well,” she said. “Another huge part of it is applying pressure to the other team’s defenders and trying to turn them over higher up on the field.”
Being able to convert opportunities as she did in the Champions Trophy is critical to the U.S. It will be a key in the Olympics.
“In a sport like hockey, penalty corners are huge for No. 1, being able to generate them but then No. 2, have a high conversion rate,” Sharkey said. “I think if we convert on a large number of our corners we’ll be in really good shape.”
Sharkey is thrilled to have the chance to help. She worked her way back into the mix after her injury.
“I never was thinking was too far ahead to the Olympic selection,” Sharkey said. “During my rehab I was focusing on getting my ankle strong and getting the mobility back so I could be the player I was before I broke it and had the surgery. I was back to playing in November, which was still seven or eight months before our team was announced. Of course, it’s hard missing all that training, but I was willing to work really hard to get back to where I was.”
What hurt was watching so much of her previous work melt away as she waited for the clearance from her surgeon to resume playing.
“That was definitely the hardest part of the surgery, was being on crutches and being off my leg for so long, I felt all that fitness that I had achieved to that point, I saw it disappearing every day,” Sharkey said. “I tried various things to maintain as much as I can. I did upper body circuits every single day while I was on non-weight bearing crutches. I was literally crawling around my gym and trying to challenge myself and trying to get my heart rate up. It was worth it to me even if I only kept 10 percent of the fitness. I did a lot of that.
“Six weeks after my surgery, I was allowed to bike so I did a couple weeks of intense bike work. Once I was allowed to run again, it was making sure I challenged myself and was pushing myself. I felt like my body was able to adapt to the training faster than I had maybe anticipated. Once I was cleared and ready to go, I needed to be challenging myself in every workout.”
The stick skills didn’t take long to recover. She had extra work with her coaches and made sure she gave it her all in practices.
“My first couple weeks back, I had to work my way into the drills because I hadn’t played in so long,” Sharkey recalled. “Meanwhile, my teammates had been training really hard all the months I was off, so I definitely was at a different place than them. After two weeks, I felt I was able to get my skills back.
“Basically, I came back to training in November,” she added. “After a month or two months, I felt I was back to where I was before. For the entire 2016, I’ve been feeling like myself. I know I’m fitter and stronger than I was last year at this time.”
