After one world championship tournament as an assistant coach for Great Britain‘s women‘s team, Beth Hanrahan has been promoted to the head coaching role for 2025-26.

Hanrahan clearly enjoyed her first experience of international hockey in Dumfries and was left wanting more.

“I think this was a great experience to get two weeks. I didn’t know what I was expecting, in terms of players, staff, and organisation, so I would like to be involved as I’ve created some relatively good relationships with the players and I’d like to see them develop in years to come.”

The Maryland native is a forward-thinking coach, currently an assistant with Brown University, an NCAA Division I team.

In the early days of women’s professional hockey in North America, Hanrahana opted to hang up the playing skates to take an excellent opportunity at Shattuck St. Mary’s, a prep school based in Minnesota.

Assistant jobs followed at the NCAA level. She spent four years at Mercyhurst University and is now in her fourth season at Brown.

You can expect Great Britain to continue to transition toward a new style of play and a North American brand.

“I think it is [the correct way to play]. They [Great Britain] are playing aggressive, fast hockey. I think that’s what you have to play. You have to be able to play a skill game and be physical to play at the top level. We’ve implemented some things. Each practice, we are adding more and more net front battles, against the walls, pinning, things like that. Transitions as well. I think the coaches and most importantly the players are doing a good job of implementing that.”

With several young British players based in North America, Hanraan is well-positioned to keep in contact with those players. The 32-year-old will also serve as a touch point for other promising players to find their way into North America in the future.

“I think you are always kind of recruiting, always planning, even where you’re not with the team, especially since we are only together for a two-week stint. You can’t just show up with a blindfold on and hope for the best. So I think having someone in North America is nice and a benefit. I can keep tabs on those players and potentially have touch points, depending on where they are located. The coaching community in North America is quite small as well, so being able to communicate with my fellow coaches I’ve got good relationships with in Division I and III is helpful too. I [hopefully] will be a good resource for players who are interested in North America.”

Lucy Beal (SUNY-Canton), Chamonix Jackson (SUNY-Canton), Ellin Rees (Norwich Univ), Chloe Needham-Potts (Utica Univ), Charlotte Harris (Connecticut College), Ellie Patrick (Keene State College), Sophie Games (Salem State Univ) and Rhiannon Price (Lebanon Valley College) are all playing NCAA Division III this season.

The latter two are defenders who are yet to represent Great Britain, so perhaps that might change in the near future following a new appointment.

From my brief time chatting with Hanrahan, the passion for the sport, self-improvement, and developing players is crystal clear and vibrant.

“For the last three years at Brown, I’ve been working with the forwards, power play and 6v5 situations. Skill development-wise, I’ve worked with all the players. I really do like being on the ice to work on individual skills. That is my main joy of coaching.”

“For me, it’s all about developing players and working with them. I think that’s the best part of coaching, being face-to-face with players, that was more of my draw to come over and teach. I can also learn myself, so it is all-encompassing (in terms of the decision to join GB).”

All quotes are from an interview conducted by me with Beth Hanrahan in April https://wp.me/p2gDti-1GI

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