Olympic hockey goalkeeper on the joy of making art

An Olympic Team GB hockey player has described the "big enjoyment" she gets from creating art when she is not on the pitch.

Goalkeeper Miriam Pritchard, from Oxford, debuted for England in 2017 and reached the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Away from her sporting career, she is an award-winning illustrator, earning a World Illustration Award in 2022 for a tile mural in a Leicestershire cafe's bathroom.

Ahead of the Hockey World Cup, which opens at the weekend in Belgium and the Netherlands, Pritchard spoke to the BBC about balancing the pressures of the pitch with her creative side.

The goalie said 2026 has been "a real growth year", adding: "I feel I'm starting to play with a bit more freedom and real confidence."

Pritchard said she loves the challenge of her position within the team and considers pressure "a privilege".

"They do say goalies are a bit nuts," she said. "We are really measured by millimetres.

"You can be that player that helps the team out and is the hero, and you also can be the player that takes it on your shoulders and carries a lot of the weight.

"I always want to go back to the reason why I'm playing in the first place - when I was younger, I loved it and I think that just keeps me in a good spot."

The 27-year-old said her love of art also comes from her father, who is an artist like his own parents.

"I've had art around me since I was little and it's such a big switch-off for me," she said, adding that art held "a big enjoyment factor" and "making and creating really makes me feel happy".

Pritchard explained: "There's less structure, fewer boundaries, less right and wrong.

"I've got a few projects on the go as well, which helps balance things out for me."

The hockey player said she even brings her sketchbook to the World Cup and one of her creations includes a football decorated with drawings of the Lionesses.

She said: "I take a lot of inspiration from the Lionesses, their success recently at both their European Championships [in 2022 and 2025].

"I wanted to keep the sport and the art very separate but, at the moment, I'm finding it's really enjoyable to celebrate women's sport in art form and I've been lucky enough to do some live drawing at some pretty cool events."

On Sunday, the England women's hockey team faces the South Africa side, who she described as "fit and fast".

With countries like China and India competing, Pritchard said it was a "tough pool".

"For us it's very much one game at a time," she said. "I think we can be really, really confident going forward but that's the first challenge."

Pritchard, who used to play at Oxford Hockey Club and Oxford Hawks, has been to some of the coaching sessions there and said the young boys and girls "are working really hard".

"I hope that I can inspire them and see them on the world stage in the future - that'd be amazing," she said.