Maddie Hinch the star as Team GB take gold in Women's Hockey

The 27-year-old from West Chiltington was sensational in goal as GB beat The Netherlands in a tense penalty shootout.

Maddie saved all the penalties she faced as well as producing a string of fine stops throughout the match.

Sophie Bray and Laura Unsworth, who both play for East Grinstead, were key players throughout the tournament, but there was no denying who Team GB's star was.

Two weeks ago, she was known only by those who follow the sport. But following Friday's heroics she is front page and back page news.

Millions watched the final with many of this country's greatest athletes taking to Twitter to praise Hinch.

Double gold winning runner Kelly Holmes said: "One of my best moments of the games watching the women's hockey team tonight. Maddie Hinch a star."

Former footballer Gary Lineker tweeted: "Yes! Maddie Hinch you are a superstar" while former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan posted: "I want Maddie Hinch as our Prime Minister."

Maddie first started playing hockey aged 12 when she was a student at Hazlegrove, a co-educational private prep boarding school in Somerset.

She honed her skills at clubs in Exmouth and Leicester, making her senior national debut against Germany in 2008.

She has nearly 50 caps for Great Britain, 57 for England and 10 indoor and has played at the Commonwealth Games, the World League Final and EuroHockey Championships.

Speaking after the match, she insisted the win was a team effort but admitted to enjoying shootouts.

She said: "I was a bit nervous and my legs felt really heavy but I was confident as well.

"Goalkeeping has its highs and lows. You can be the villain but you can also be the hero. It was a great chance for me to do my bit as a goalie."

She put her success in the shootout down to doing her homework.

Hinch referred to a red notebook she takes to matches which has information on what each player usually does in a shootout.

She had a glance at it on the touchline at full-time on Friday, with the shootout imminent.

She said: "I am constantly keeping my database up to date. We have a huge amount of data and I can go back years and years and look at details of one player, what she has done every time. I narrowed it to one plan for each player.

"Under pressure players resort to what their strengths are and so I just come up with a plan.

"Thankfully the Dutch did what I thought they would do."

Hinch also had notes taped to her water bottle, giving her tips for Holland's penalty corner routines.

She added: "I'm sure all goalies do their homework, it's just I make mine a little bit more public."

THEIR SUCCESS IS INSPIRING A NEW GENERATION OF PLAYERS

OUTSIDE the world of hockey, Maddie Hinch was virtually unknown before Friday.

But after her stunning performance in goal in which she was unbeaten in the penalty shoot-out, the 27-year-old’s name is on everyone’s lips.

She has commanded countless column inches over the weekend and her beaming smile has featured on every TV station.

“We have had everyone talking about her,” said Henry Gale, one of the managers of The Queen’s Head pub in West Chiltington, where Maddie grew up.

He told The Argus: “Everyone’s overjoyed, everyone’s chatting and talking about it. We’ve had locals coming in saying, ‘I knew her when she was a youngster and look at her now’.

“Women’s hockey is a bit of an under-rated sport and this helps to bring it out into the mainstream.”

Mr Gale said Maddie’s heroics would give youngsters in the village added impetus to make something of themselves.

He said: “It shows young women they can achieve things. In this area they now have a role model to look up to, otherwise they might slip by the wayside. It strengthens the community.”

Clearly focused on her sport, Mr Gale said Maddie was “not much of a pub girl”.

Instead, the people of West Chiltington said yesterday that she would often be spotted around the village running.

Another jogger, who did not want to be named, said: “She’s very fit. I have seen her running around the village.

“It’s lovely to have this recognition for our village.”

Maddie began her journey to hockey stardom on the rounders pitch.

She first played the sport when she was 12 after becoming a boarding student at Hazlegrove, a co-educational private prep school in Somerset.

She was encouraged to try out in goal after teachers saw her “diving all over the place” during a game of rounders.

Katie Cobb, her hockey teacher, said: “When she arrived we were playing rounders and she was diving all over the place, catching the ball.

“She was very determined and very athletic and we said, ‘Do you fancy taking the goalie kit home and having a go with it over the summer?’.

“She hadn’t played before but she had been playing a lot of football and that lends itself to goalkeeping.

“So she had a go in the garden, came back and she was amazing.”

When Maddie moved to Loughborough University, she was such a talent that her teachers had her training against men.

Maddie honed her skills at clubs in Exmouth and Leicester, making her senior national debut against Germany in 2008.

She has played the last three seasons for Holcombe Hockey Club in Kent but is set next year to play in Netherlands – the country she denied the gold medal.

On returning from Rio she will line up for Stichtse Cricket en Hockey Club in Utrecht.

Jon Rye, co-chairman and director of hockey at Holcombe, put her success down to preparation.

He said Hinch always knew her opponent “inside out” and would have rehearsed the way each penalty was likely to go.

“Maddie has a really down-to-earth character, she is very unassuming and she is passionate about what she does,” he said.

“Maddie does her homework every single game. She puts time and effort both on the pitch, in terms of what she needs to do as an athlete, but also does her homework about the opposition.”

Not only have Maddie and her teammates created history by winning gold but they have also inspired a new generation of players.

Hockey clubs up and down the country have reported a huge rise in people wanting to take up the sport, eager to replicate their Olympics heroes.

Maddie said: “One of our press team was telling me about a video sent in to Bisham Abbey [their UK training base] of a girl watching us on TV and picking up a stick at 22 months old.

“Even if we hadn’t done well, we wanted to achieve our team vision: be the difference, create history and inspire the future.

“We’ve done all of those things and medals are a bonus. To think we’re getting people into our sport gives us real pride.”

HOW LONDON SNUB FUELLED ‘MAD DOG HINCH’

MADDIE Hinch almost gave up on her gold medal dream after being left out of the squad for the 2012 Olympics.

She had expected to be picked as the reserve goalkeeper but was overlooked and watched the once-in-a-lifetime home Olympics on TV.

Speaking after winning Rio gold, she admitted the snub had been a huge knock to her confidence.

But instead of giving up she used the rejection to fuel her training and she is now regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

Nicknamed Mad Dog Hinch, due to her bravery between the posts, she puts much of her success down to preparation.

As well as her notebook on what players do in shoot-outs, she keeps notes on her water bottle which she has with her during games.

After being picked up on camera on Friday night, her hand-scrawled notes were broadcasted and printed around the world.

In black pen, it read: “Relax, hands up, chin out, trap 2, 3, 19. STAY BIG!!”

Maddie put the team’s success down in part to their ban on social media which enabled them to remain focused throughout the competition.

She said: “The chance of winning Olympic gold only comes once every four years and we wanted to minimise potential distractions and be fully focused on the task at hand.

“The fact we made the decision as a team shows the strength of the group and our culture.

“It’s enabled us to exist in a bubble. We’re still in touch with friends and family so we’re getting feedback on how much support is out there. On getting more interest on social media, I always said if we play well, it will come.”