Birch Twins Keep It In The Family With Hockey Legacy

Rod Gilmour of The Hockey Paper speaks to twin sisters Rebecca and Katie Birch as they get set to face each other as rivals in the same position.

With promotion out of reach and relegation saved, don’t say there is still nothing riding on Ben Rhydding’s clash with Durham University this weekend in the Vitality Women’s Division 1 North.

The match will see a repeat encounter between twins Rebecca and Katie Birch - both having returned from attending colleges in the USA - after they faced each other earlier in the season for the first time in their lives.

“It was weird to play against her but really enjoyable,” says Rebecca, who joined Ben Rhydding in September 2020. “We play in quite similar positions and it felt like a positional battle all match. Unfortunately we lost that day.”

Indeed, Durham beat their Yorkshire rivals 3-0 in November, while they have been unable to close the gap at the top in the season-long battle between long-time leaders University of Nottingham and Bowdon, the teams set for a likely promotion-winning match on March 26.

Katie graduated from University of Iowa in 2020 after a stellar college hockey career, which started when she was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2016. The 23-year-old twin is currently doing her Masters at Durham as well as working at Durham School alongside team-mate Kerry-Anne Hastings.

“We’ve had a really good run and some great battles,” says Durham captain Katie. “Notts are too far to catch but second or third would be a great season for the team. It’s all still up for grabs and if we can impact the outcome then we will [Durham play Bowdon on the last day of the season]. The season is certainly not over for us.”

Katie was part of the England age groups and spent time on the Elite Development Programme (EDP). “Unfortunately I didn’t make the squad this year but hopefully there are plenty more opportunities.”

The twins played for City of York in their junior days before university. “Dad has always played and mum has always been on the sidelines, coaching, managing and cheering,” says Katie. “The sport has flown through the three of us, we are all hockey badgers and all love it!

“We followed in dad’s footsteps and he was our coach until we were 18. I like to think he is very wise and he is a big believer of ‘do as I say, not as I do'.

“Being in the England junior system was great in that it challenged and pushed me in different ways and Iowa was a whole different breed in the way it pushed me as a person and a player. It was what I wanted and needed at the time.”

Meanwhile, Ben Rhydding, the Ilkley-based side, are numerically safe from the drop in Division 1 North this season, but their season is also far from over in Rebecca’s eyes. “It feels like giving it the last in the tank, seeing what we’ve got and whether we can make a difference where we finish in the league,” she says.

Rebecca joined the club in September 2020, playing summer league and then pre-season with Ben Rhydding 1s. She is currently a student nurse at Leeds University and playing BUCS hockey around her nursing schedule. Although she was never selected for the EDP, she was part of the former HiPAC squad and represented England as part of England Hockey’s Apprenticeship in Sport scheme.

“As long as I can play I will try and take as much advantage of the sport as possible. Like being in America, which was the most amazing experience, and travelling with the sport to places like Australia has great appeal.

“Ever since we were little, we have always played. It has been a huge part of our family life and the dinner table chat has always been about what’s going on in the sport.”

Rebecca is not the only Birch involved at Ben Rhydding, the twins’ older brother, Matt, is a coach on the women’s team. He is also vice captain of Ben Rhydding men's team and has the most important fixture of the Birch family this weekend, fighting to win the league and their place in Conference North. 

Rebecca and Matt do play on the Ben Rhydding mixed team, while they hope to lure Katie as a guest on the team. “We have grown up playing summer leagues together and we used to turn up on a Wednesday and ask to have us all on the same team,” laughs Rebecca. “People were like ‘You can’t do that!’ But hockey creates that family environment and it is so enjoyable.”

The three Birchs are defenders and all play as centre-backs, with Katie currently in the best position to pursue her dream of top flight hockey.

She says: “We are always pushing for Premier Division hockey and it’s a good environment to be in, where we can challenge ourselves but it's also a division where you can have confidence in your hockey and go for it. It’s a good mix to be in but I’d love to play in the Prem.”

As for Saturday’s fixture with her twin sister, she will aim to overcome the “intimidating” factor she experienced in their first match. “It will just be a big family bash,” she says this time.