From the fields of Oxted to the Olympics spotlight, Zach Wallace’s drive to become one of the most gifted hockey players of his generation has pit stops via Gaelic sports, a myriad of coaches and mentors and a heavy dose of lessons in leadership. All of which has seen the playmaker captain his country as a rising 22-year-old and become the first Englishman to sign with the famous orange colours of Dutch club hockey giants Bloemendaal.
His father, Mark, hails from County Down, Northern Ireland and his wife, Cathriona, from County Tipperary, and early holidays back home invariably saw Zach, who was born in the UK, yield a hurley [stick], a sport which can be played with both sides and where Wallace junior “could give it a good old whack”.
“He’s had the Gaelic side of sports. If he didn’t have a hockey stick it would be hurley. With hurley it’s more off the ground and so he has had a benefit of both,” says Mark.
With his father long associated with Oxted HC, Zach started in the juniors when Mark started overseeing Sunday morning junior training when he was six. “Dad would sit in the middle of the park, keep things simple and keep it ticking over,” recalls Zach of those early hockey memories. “If I look back, the technical and mental side and the way I see the game is what I was taught.
Zach, a lifelong Manchester United fan, had a hockey or hurling stick in his hand from a young age PIC: Supplied
“He would be playing a passing game, looking to link up with players, unselfish hockey and you can see that in my game where I try to connect with players. He loved seeing me enjoy myself.”
When his son was nine, Wallace senior noticed potential in Zach and he started playing Surrey under-10 tournaments. In his first season, Wallace junior garnered immediate success when Oxted won a county competition for the first time. The same accolades then came at Surrey regionals.
“At that age, it’s always about the fun element,” admits Mark. “I try to keep the same message through the age groups ‘to always go forwards first’, as the pitch opens up and there are more opportunities. To always play with your head up, to who is in a better position, be it you or a team-mate.
“I always say to give it a go, to take that risk making that pass. I liken it to snooker, to be three passes ahead in hockey so the opposition don’t know what he is going to do. It’s casting the doubt in the defender and to be one step ahead.”
A young Zach Wallace had a variety of sticks in his hand from an early age PIC: Supplied
Spool forward nearly 15 years later and Wallace is describing his bold, mesmeric volley strike for GB in the Pro League.
“I try stupid things in training,” Zach reveals. “I like to train like that, to push the kind of things I can and can’t do. It helps to give me the confidence to try it in games. It fell perfectly for me that day and it’s quite a hard skill to pull off.”
His hours with a hurley stick certainly paid off and the world has already bore witness to it on the pitch.
Inner self-confidence and hockey drive
When Mark left for a deputy role at Kingston Grammar School, Zach moved and then joined Surbiton, winning under-14 and 16 competitions. Todd Williams, then Surbiton coach, also saw potential and Wallace was asked to join senior training, with the likes of Olympian Matt Daly, who was also one of his school teachers.
“We knew he was good. Tiny, but knew he was good,” says Williams. The Australian is quick to recount a story from one early training session when Wallace was defending in the left corner and being pressured by Daly. Wallace made two or three moves and “rinsed it past Daly”.
“There are two bits that are interesting; the skill to do that to a double Olympian, the second is that Daly was one of his staff coaches at Kingston Grammar. Zach had the combination of unbelievable skill and mixed with self-confidence.”
Mark says: “Todd wasn’t scared to put him into the deep end and he never really looked back after that. Mark Pearn then took him when he was men’s coach. “I think Pearny saw a lot of Zach in himself and he’s often mentioned that to me.”
Undoubtedly mature for his age, this harks back to being blooded early in the Surbiton team. When he went to training, he would be the only one of his age training with the senior adults, while several years later Zach’s house mates in Holland, Alan Forsyth and Ollie Willars were eight and 10 years older.
It has meant, in the Bisham Abbey fold, that older players have looked to Wallace for guidance and advice.
Zach Wallace in action PIC: EHF / World Sport Pics
His debut for Surbiton in a Cup match at the University of Birmingham underlines how unfazed Wallace was at such a tender age.
“The students were cheering at this tiny kid and by the end laughing at their own students. He’s never not played 1s ever since,” adds Williams, the then coach concentrating on Wallace’s strengths in training.
“If it will work here, it will work anywhere,” recalls Williams.
At Kingston, he was also well supported by coach Mike Williamson, a former Hounslow and Wales player who is also father of GB international Conor, while Calum Giles has also helped steer Wallace.He stayed at Kingston until his GCSEs before moving to Whitgift School under Karl Stagno and, aged 17, called up to England under-21s and on the senior radar after talks with Bobby Crutchley. Trials ensued after his A Levels and he debuted for GB against Belgium at Lee Valley in October 2018.
“A lot of it is about being confident and taking risks which he does and never to play within himself but always to make sure he is showing what he is able to do, both individually and also for the team.”
A studious mind and team bonding
Wallace was made England captain for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, a role which never looked out of his depth. “He would have seen me in a school environment in that leadership team and how I approach that in a professional capacity,” recalls Mark. “Hopefully he would have seen those leadership principles and qualities.”
So too when he first signed with HGC, under the auspices of “inspirational” former coach Paul van Ass, in the world-class Hoofdklasse and then becoming the first English player to agree terms with Bloemendaal last season.
Playing with some of the world’s best players leaves Wallace with lofty ambitions for England and GB. Thus, disappointment at missing out on World Cup riches in early 2023 has turned into positives that major titles can be gleaned.
“You are watching the final matches and you are thinking we should be in those games and can beat them. It made us more motivated than ever.”
Wallace, who has completed his Open University degree after intending to study economics at uni and sitting exams during the Commonwealth Games, went travelling from Bhubaneswar to Delhi after England’s dramatic World Cup exit early last year and didn’t watch the back end of the World Cup until the squad had reassembled back at Bisham, coach Paul Revington having meshed a squad with serious potential, as well as twice coming close in the last two seasons to winning the Pro League.
“The team togetherness is something I haven’t experienced too much in team sports,” adds Wallace, playing his second Olympics in Paris.
“Even outside of hockey, the boys stick together which is quite rare to have. The young boys have so much energy, not just in matches but in training. They have won throughout youth hockey, and you can feel it on the pitch.
“It’s almost like ‘We don’t care what they bring, we are doing ours’. The expectation is that we are going to impose our game on our opponent.”
Source link : https://www.thehockeypaper.co.uk/articles/2024/07/28/the-making-of-zach-wallace-hurling-leadership-and-snooker-mentality-shape-paris-olympics-drive
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Publish date : 2024-07-28 07:40:34
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