Women’s hockey talking points: Concussion blights University of Birmingham’s early season

In a worrying trend for hockey, University of Birmingham’s defeat to Clifton Robinsons on Saturday saw the students suffer their fourth concussion injury of the season.

Three of the players sidelined are current England junior internationals, with Pippa Stewart becoming the latest to receive a head injury during Birmingham’s 1-0 defeat to the Bristol side.

Phil Gooderham’s squad currently sit second bottom of the Investec Premier Division and are feeling the effects of an increasing casualty list, which includes Millie Giglio, a civil engineering student and promising Great Britain under-23 player, who suffered a serious head injury last month.

Giglio was playing at East Grinstead on October 19 when she was struck on the back of the ear after a backhand cross was hit at a dangerous height in the circle.

The 19-year-old was behind several players as the ball deflected and she only managed to turn her face away before receiving a slight fracture on the skull and a small hole in her ear drum.

Giglio blacked out and doesn’t remember being hit while the match was delayed for 30 minutes as an ambulance arrived. She spent two days in hospital and hopes to be back playing after Christmas.

“I had concussion in April but nowhere as bad this one and it took me four weeks to get over,” said Giglio. “When that happened I felt gutted but more frustrated, whereas now I feel grateful that it turned out the way it did.

“There was a chance I would have to have surgery, there was liquid in my brain that they needed to drain. The fact that I couldn’t play hockey for eight weeks is a pretty good consequence from what could have happened.”

Giglio, who moved from Wimbledon to Birmingham this season, admitted that high-profile concussion stories in hockey over the last 18 months have helped give her a better understanding.

She added: “How it affects you is incredible. I struggle with anything in everyday life and after six weeks I have only started now to regain normal thought processes and hold a conversation.

"They’ve [Nicola White and Shona McCallin] all been through it and it helps me to be a little bit more patient. If they spent however many months out then I should probably be doing the same. I’m not the only player it’s happened to, even though now everyone else seems to move on from their injuries and I’m stuck in the same cycle.”

England Hockey have been monitoring injuries over the last four years at domestic level and clubs have reported 11 incidents of concussion in that time. From this season, reporting of all injuries is mandatory within England Hockey competitions.

Gooderham’s seasonal worries

The elite performance set up at the University of Birmingham, coupled with match day physios, has given the students the best possible support when it comes to concussion.

“To have a performance behind the girls when they are playing so much hockey as students and to be looked after is vitally important,” said Gooderham.

“I don’t think necessarily there is more concussion, it’s just that we have a better understanding. Ten years ago there would be an ice pack to the head and then the players got on with it."

Every season Gooderham has to contend with a mass player exodus as students finish their studies and move on to other clubs. Every season, Gooderham works wonders to keep Birmingham in the top flight.

This year Gooderham lost eight players, including Lily Owsley, with most of his athletes are involved in the England and Great Britain set up. On Saturday, Clifton's in-form Claire Thomas added to Birmingham's travails with the only goal of the game.

“It’s a big ask when you lose so many players but the second team have stepped up, they’re young and still developing,” he added. They include Lily Walker, a 17-year-old talent who was selected for the England under-21 squad in the summer.

Hampstead cut down Holcombe

Joyce Esser scored four times and Owsley twice as a rampant Hampstead & Westminster thumped Holcombe 7-1 at Paddington Rec on Sunday. Their win kept the Londoners eight points behind leaders Surbiton who accrued their 10th win in a row with a 3-1 win on the road at Bowdon. East Grinstead lie in third, their improving season showing no sign of abating thanks to goals from Tess Howard and Sophie Bray, the league's top goalscorer, in a 2-1 win against Beeston. They travel to fourth-placed Clifton this weekend in what looks set to be an enticing clash.

Elsewhere Loughborough Students picked up their fourth win of the campaign as they won 2-1 at home against Buckingham. Sophie Byrne and Vicki McCabe scored for the hosts while Natasha James hit the only goal for Buckingham.