Ahead of the 9th edition of the FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup taking place in South Africa (1-12 April), we’re conducting a series of exclusive interviews with the participating teams. Today: Lisa Nolte (GER).
Lisa, how do you look at the fact that you will be playing a World Cup?
Lisa Nolte: It feels great and very exciting! We are all proud to play for the German national team. It is the first time playing a World Cup for all of us. So, everybody’s looking forward to it very much. At the same time, it’s very emotional because after the postponement in November, nobody knew if we could play this World Cup and now we are very happy to play!
Germany was three times on the podium of this competition, including winning the first edition in 1989. How do you feel about that and what are your expectations?
After such a long time, it’s the right moment to be on the podium again! I think the last medal was in 2005. That’s 17 years ago … So, it’s time to be on the podium for the fourth time. For me, it’s difficult to set expectations because in our age category we only play against European opponents. We have never played against international teams from other continents. But we’re looking forward to it and for sure I’m optimistic that we will be successful. With the team and the staff, when we are together, we always have a lot of positive energy and many positive vibes.
Will it be your first time in South Africa?
It will be the first time in South Africa for most of the team, including myself. We’re very curious and excited because everybody tells us it’s such a beautiful country. Although I know it won’t be possible to explore the country because of COVID and a very tight schedule, I’m really looking forward to being in South Africa for the first time!
How will you prepare for this event?
We will have a training camp this week. As you know, when the World Cup was cancelled in November we were already sitting on our packed suitcases and for that event our preparation was already completed. So, since then, we’ve played our indoor season in Germany and after that we’ve re-started our preparation with trainings.
