Oral History Interview: Jennifer (Jenny) Cardwell

Partial Transcript: CARDWELL: I was Jennifer Smith until I married in, er, '66. I'm now known in hockey as Jenny Cardwell.

Segment Synopsis: Cardwell introduces herself and gives a brief overview of her hockey career as a player, coach and manager.

Keywords: Great Britain; Olympics/Olympic Games

Partial Transcript: SOMERVILLE: Tell me where you started.

Segment Synopsis: Cardwell recalls her school hockey days and her failed trials for Middlesex before going on to recount her move to Durham to attend PE College and her subsequent success playing for Durham County.

Keywords: Durham (County); Durham University; Durham--United Kingdom (UK); Evening Standard; Freda Walker; Grammar School; London--United Kingdom (UK); Middlesex (county); PE College; School; Tottenham County School; Trials

Subjects: Associations--County; Life Outside of Hockey--Family--Childhood; Media; Prejudice & Inequality--Social/Class; Recollection of Others--Coach & Manager; Teams--Girls--County; Teams--Girls--School; Teams--Women--County

Partial Transcript: CARDWELL: And when I left college in '64 I went to live in Essex and got in touch with Peggy Nesbitt who was the most brilliant hockey person I think I've ever met.

Segment Synopsis: Cardwell recounts her post-college experience of playing for various clubs and failing to make the first teams of various counties as she moved around the UK.

Keywords: Barbara West; Chairperson; Chelsea PE College; Eastbourne--United Kingdom (UK); Eastern Counties Womens Hockey Association (ECWHA)/East (territory); Essex (county); Forward; Full Back; Half Back; Ipswich--United Kingdom (UK); Peggy Nesbitt; Pregnancy; Secretary; Suffolk (county); Sussex (county); Trials; Westcliff Ladies Hockey Club; Worthing--United Kingdom (UK)

Subjects: Associations--County; Prejudice & Inequality--Social/Class; Recollection of Others--Administrator; Teams--Women--Club; Teams--Women--County; Teams--Women--Territory

Partial Transcript: CARDWELL: Anyway, got in to the East B. So the next year all the ones who were pregnant and very good - they were England players - came back. We had a really good season and I made it to East, the East A team.

Segment Synopsis: Cardwell recalls how she broke into the England squad and how she unexpectedly ended up playing at Wembley.

Keywords: Barbara Harvey; England; Pre-season; Pregnancy; Reserve; Rugby; Substitute; Suffolk (county); Wembley Stadium

Subjects: Fitness & Injury; Hockey Homes, Venues & Stadia; Recollection of Others--Player; Teams--Women--County; Teams--Women--International; Training & Conditioning--County; Training & Conditioning--International

Partial Transcript: SOMERVILLE: You said you'd started off as being a fairly aggressive player at school, how much was that due to being at a mixed school?

Segment Synopsis: Cardwell discusses her competitiveness which she believes to be an innate quality.

Keywords: Grammar School; Pregnancy; Rugby; Teaching; Tottenham County School

Subjects: Life Outside of Hockey--Career; Life Outside of Hockey--Family--Adulthood; Teams--Girls--School

Partial Transcript: SOMERVILLE: How did it feel going out on that Wembley pitch?

Segment Synopsis: Cardwell recounts an anecdote from her England debut at Wembley Stadium and recalls the atmosphere of the matches she played there.

Keywords: Debut; England; Lap of Honour; Scotland; Wembley Stadium

Subjects: Hockey Homes, Venues & Stadia; Teams--Women--International

Partial Transcript: CARDWELL: And a few years later when I'd stopped playing for England, erm, I went to the Dinner with the Queen.

Segment Synopsis: Cardwell recounts an anecdote from a dinner she attended at the Queen's invitation and goes on to recall receiving her OBE from Her Majesty.

Keywords: Homosexuality; Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE); Queen Elizabeth II

Subjects: Awards--Recognition; Dinners; Prejudice & Inequality--LGBTQ

Partial Transcript: SOMERVILLE: Er, talking of moving on, you said you took the training at Suffolk. Was that the start of your coaching?

Segment Synopsis: Cardwell recalls her early days coaching county and territory before revealing the details of her appointment as England Coach. She recalls her search for an Assistant Coach, the fortuitous circumstances that lead to her appointment of Sue Slocombe and, following her coaching, her transition to becoming Manager of England.

Keywords: All England Womens Hockey Association (AEWHA); Anita White; Assistant Coach; AstroTurf/Artificial Turf; Brussels--Belgium; Eastern Counties Womens Hockey Association (ECWHA)/East (territory); Eileen Wilce; England; European Nations Championship/EuroHockey Nations Championship; Grass; Kuala Lumpar--Malaysia; Manager; Mary Russell Vick; President; Sue Slocombe; Suffolk (county); Verona Nolan; Win Heath

Subjects: Associations--National; Coaching & Management--County; Coaching & Management--International; Coaching & Management--Territory; Playing Surfaces; Recollection of Others--Administrator; Recollection of Others--Coach & Manager; Recollection of Others--Player; Teams--Girls--County; Teams--Girls--Territory; Teams--Women--County; Teams--Women--International; Tournaments--International; World Cup--Women--1983 Kuala Lumpar

Partial Transcript: CARDWELL: Ah, you know it was always a difficult time with England because money was so tight. Erm, after '91 - the next year of course, '92, was Olympic year - we'd just won the Europeans, there was no money for the England senior squad.

Segment Synopsis: Cardwell discusses the financial limitations she had to endure during her England tenure and how England managed to continue to challenge the best teams in the world in spite of them.

Keywords: Centre of Excellence; England; European Hockey Federation (EHF); European Nations Championship/EuroHockey Nations Championship; Germany; Great Britain; Hockey Field Magazine; International Olympic Committee (IOC); Julie Cook; Netherlands; Nutrition; Oakham School; Olympics/Olympic Games; Psychology; Support Staff; Video Analysis

Subjects: Administration & Finances--International; Administration & Finances--National; Coaching & Management--International; Teams--Women--International; Teams--Women--Touring

Partial Transcript: CARDWELL: Probably the biggest disappointment of our life was the World Cup in Dublin in '94 where we just scrambled ninth place to get an Olympic qualifying position.

Segment Synopsis: Cardwell recalls the disappointment of the 1994 World Cup in Dublin.

Keywords: Dublin--Republic of Ireland; England; Olympic Qualifiers; Olympics/Olympic Games; World Cup

Subjects: Coaching & Management--International; Teams--Women--International; Tournaments--International; World Cup--Women--1994 Dublin

Partial Transcript: CARDWELL: And then Sue and I went on to be Coach and Manager of Great Britain.

Segment Synopsis: Cardwell discusses the difficulty of uniting a Great Britain team with players from the individual Home Nations, the Olympic Qualifiers in South Africa and recalls attending the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996.

Keywords: Atlanta--United States of America (USA); Australia; Cape Town--South Africa; Coach; Football (Soccer); Germany; Great Britain; Great Britain Hockey; Manager; Margaret Souyave/Maggie Souyave; Netherlands; Northern Ireland; Olympic Qualifiers; Olympics/Olympic Games; Penalty Stroke; Rugby; Scotland; South Korea; Sue Slocombe; Teaching; United States of America (USA); Wales

Subjects: Amateurism & Professionalism; Associations--International; Coaching & Management--International; Life Outside of Hockey--Career; Olympic Games--1996 Atlanta; Olympic Games--2000 Sydney; Politics; Recollection of Others--Coach & Manager; Teams--Women--International; Tournaments--International; Volunteering

Partial Transcript: SOMERVILLE: What do you look back on, erm, with most affection and pride?

Segment Synopsis: Cardwell reflects on the friendships she forged across her distinguished hockey career before going on to discuss her family and their involvement with hockey.

Keywords: Belgium; Brussels--Belgium; Coach; Eastern Counties Womens Hockey Association (ECWHA)/East (territory); England; Football (Soccer); Kate Richardson-Walsh/Kate Walsh; Katie Dodd; Mandy Davies; Netta Ford; Peter Damone; Plymouth--United Kingdom (UK); Stratford; Sue Slocombe; University of Plymouth

Subjects: Captaincy; Coaching & Management--College & University; Life Outside of Hockey--Family--Adulthood; Recollection of Others--Coach & Manager; Recollection of Others--Player; Reunion; Social & Friendships; Teams--Girls--Territory