‘Patience is a virtue’ has truly been the motto for England midfielder Liv Wimpenny as she approaches making her Senior World Championship debut 10 years on from her first international appearance.
When the midfielder lines up against Australia on Thursday in England’s World Championship opener, it will represent a decade of hard work and determination that has come since debuting at just 16 years old at the 2012 Euros in Amsterdam and be the reward for maintaining that perseverance to achieve her goals.
The initial rise through international lacrosse was a bit of a whirlwind for Wimpenny, who had only started playing age 11, first at Birkenhead School, and then at Oxton Lacrosse Club, where coaches Alison Dunn and Carina Walsh set her on the path to success at an early age.
“From the age of 13, they saw something in me and began inviting me to play senior lacrosse, and then regional lacrosse, which just set me on this trajectory, and they were so supportive along the way,” Wimpenny said.
Then in the England Under 19 programme, she was part of a group asked to trial for a C team at Home Internationals, ending up in selection for the B squad, and then catching the eye of the coaches for Euros selection.
“I got pushed up in to the B squad which wasn’t the plan at all, and then somehow scored six goals in a match against Scotland and off the back of that found myself being selected for the Europeans.”
“I was thinking, what is going on this isn’t meant to be happening! It was such an incredible experience in Amsterdam, but I definitely wasn’t one of the standouts at that tournament.”
Liv is modest in her reflections of that tournament; she scored 16 goals to help England reclaim a gold medal they hadn’t won since 2003; but it was the experiences she had in Amsterdam that focused the mind already on the future.
“Getting to play alongside players such as Lucy Lynch (England’s record appearance maker), and Laura Merrifield was incredible.
“Watching them and how they played was such a massive learning experience and I saw that that was the player I wanted to become.”
But before then, Liv stepped back down to the Under 19s to get her first taste of a World Championship in 2015 in Edinburgh.
It was a championship full of extreme highs and lows, which after losing in golden goal overtime to both Australia and Canada in pool play, culminated in a brilliant bronze medal against Australia and Wimpenny making the All-Star World team at the end of the tournament.
Wimpenny was named in the 2015 U19 World Championship All-Star Team as England won the bronze medal
“We became such a strong team, we were all playing for each other and we had the fight and determination after coming through so many overtime games.
“Getting that bronze medal meant so much to us, we knew that we could get it and when we eventually beat Australia it felt amazing.”
But Wimpenny would have to wait to return to the big stage after missing out on final selection for both the 2013 and 2017 World Championships.
And that patience was once more put to the test, with this delayed 2022 edition continuing her wait.
“It’s now been seven years since that Under 19s and although we’ve been on tour and done the Europeans, I really can’t wait to get back on that huge world stage against Australia and Canada and the like.”
“It’s been such a long time coming that It’s going to be incredible and I can’t wait to be there alongside everyone.
And Wimpenny senses that the feeling of togetherness she experienced then in 2015, is present again with this World Championship squad.
“We’ve been there for each other over the past five years and it’s made waiting so much easier.
“The training has had the intensity that we’ve needed to keep us going and we’re all such good friends.
“We give each other hard competition and we get feisty out there sometimes but we just love spending time with each other.”
But when Wimpenny finally does cross the line and steps on to the field at a senior World Championship in Towson this week on her 23rd senior cap, it’s all eyes on the prize, and the prize is ultimately a coveted gold medal.
“You’ve got to set your standards to that height,” Wimpenny said.
”The aim is gold and whilst it’s bold as we’ve never got it before, the target is definitely that gold medal match and then we’ll see what happens.”