Alex Danson to continue England captaincy for next three hockey tournaments

Olympic champion Alex Danson will captain the England women's hockey team for the squad's next three major international competitions.

Danson, 32, has led the squad on a tournament-by-tournament basis since previous skipper Kate Richardson-Walsh retired following Rio 2016.

She will now skipper England at this month's World League Finals, the Commonwealth Games in April and the London World Cup next summer.

"It's an incredible honour," she said.

The forward told BBC Sport: "Without question at this stage, two and a half years from the Olympics, I believe this is the most talented group of players we've ever had, which is so exciting."

Danson made her international debut in 2001 and has gone on to score a record 105 goals from 286 internationals, for Great Britain and England combined, during a 16-year career.

She is joined in the 18-strong England team for the World League Finals in New Zealand - which begin on Friday, 17 November - by new vice-captains and fellow Rio Olympic gold medal winners Hollie Pearne-Webb and Laura Unsworth.

The 'leadership team' will be reassessed by members of the England and GB women's hockey management after the 2018 World Cup.

EuroHockey bronze in August maintained an eight-year run which has seen the England or Great Britain women's hockey teams claim at least one major international medal annually.

It has made them one of the most revered nations in world hockey, but that was not always the case.

Prior to bronze at London 2012, the squad's most recent Olympic honours were third-place finishes at the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Games, whilst the men's team won gold in 1988.

"When I started we were unfunded and off the back of 1988 I was very aware of the men's success and the women in Barcelona, but that we hadn't had anything since then. Now it's all changed," said Danson.

The forward sees "equal opportunities" for the women's and men's squads, who currently split the £18m of UK Sport investment equally between them, as crucial to their development in recent years.

Centralised training programmes for both genders - based at Bisham Abbey, about 30 miles west of London - began in 2009.

"We've seen a massive participation boost and with more players in the lower age-groups and a full-time programme for seniors, people are joining at a higher level than they were six or seven years ago," Danson said.

"Now we can genuinely say to boys and girls you can be a full-time hockey player, which is just phenomenal and it's one of the things I'm most proud of about the changes in the sport.

"We have 64 full-time athletes across our women's and men's programme and if you'd told me that 10 years ago I probably wouldn't have believed you."

Danson believes that bronze at the 2010 World Cup in Argentina, external was a breakthrough moment for the women's squad, which acted as a springboard for future success.

"It was instrumental as it was the first time we'd won a World Cup medal and it turned our belief around about what we could achieve," she stated.

In addition to their Olympic successes, since 2010 the women's team have claimed three EuroHockey medals - including gold in 2015 - as well as recording third-place finishes in the World League Finals and Champions Trophy events.

Former captain Kate Richardson-Walsh could be heard bellowing instructions to her team-mates and orchestrating players from her position in defence.

Danson is, in her own words, "much quieter" and is a very different kind of leader on the pitch.

"Kate was exceptional so it's a very hard pair of shoes to fill and I would never be able to do that," she said. "But I always try to lead by example.

"It's difficult for any captain to look after the whole team, but I know what they need from me, where the strengths are in the group and I remember why we won in Rio.

"It wasn't because we had the best individuals, it was because we were the best team."

Baring a brief stint as British Hockey performance director in 2014, Danny Kerry has been the England and GB women's head coach since 2005.

Danson has therefore played most of her international career under his leadership and describes learning of his heart attack - whilst the squad were competing in the World League Semi-Finals in South Africa - as "horrendous".

Kerry describes the forward as the "perfect choice" for the captaincy, but the player herself is keen to emphasise the team's delight at his rapid recovery.

"It was an incredible challenge for the group because you spend more time with them than you do your family when you're away and training so often - and you care for them all dearly," she said.

"I went to visit Danny the day after it happened [in hospital] and it's great to see him recover so well and amazing to have him back with the squad."

Since the squad claimed a first ever women's Olympic hockey gold medal for Team GB at Rio 2016, England Hockey claims that over 10,000 new players have taken up the sport.

Discovering new talent will be crucial to successful bids for future honours as seasoned performers Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh as well as Crista Cullen have all stepped away from international duty since last year's Olympics.

Whilst the squad will undoubtedly miss their experience and skill, the World League Finals line-up will feature eight Rio Olympians and three players will make major tournament debuts for England.

"We are as a team fantastic with intelligent players who are strong, fit and have pace to die for," Danson said.

"We want to develop a team that opponents just can't cope with, or keep up with and play a really attacking style of hockey that will be exciting to watch."

Danson was 31 when she stepped onto the podium to collect gold at the Rio Olympics and could have been forgiven for retiring from hockey after achieving sport's ultimate honour.

However her "love" for competition was undiminished.

"For me the greatest challenge is creating a winning team and that will be different to Rio as it's a different group of people and characters," she said.

"We're equally motivated and dedicated and we're doing everything we can to try to recreate something special in Tokyo.

"That (winning gold) will be our greatest ever challenge, but it's a privilege to try to do it again."

Their most immediate target though is to win a first ever World League Finals title in the last edition of the competition.

The event will be replaced by an international 'Hockey Pro League' from 2019, meaning this year's winners will forever be reigning World League champions.

"One of our very clear visions is to create history and we want to be the first women's team to recreate history again and again in British hockey," Danson said.

"We have a fantastic opportunity to try to make a bit of history again out there and I've no doubts that this squad will go to some very high places."