Anna Toman ‘hugely proud’ of dad Frank’s Gaelic football background as Team GB hockey star cherishes Lurgan roots

Anna Toman during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

John Campbell

August 10 2021 02:42 PM

Anna Toman may have just taken delivery of her share of the plaudits following her contribution to the feat of Team GB in lifting the bronze medal in hockey at the Olympics but she has no intention of resting on her laurels.

The 28-year-old multi-talented sportswoman, who has amassed 99 caps since her initial selection for England and Great Britain, is understood to be a candidate for the future captaincy of England.

And this could prove another feather in the cap of the full-time Wimbledon hockey ace who continues to challenge herself in a demanding environment.

It could be said that to date Anna has been following in her father Frank’s footsteps in terms of sporting success as he achieved what still remains a unique feat in the annals of Ulster colleges Gaelic football.

It was in winning coveted MacRory Cup and Hogan Cup medals with St Colman’s College, Newry, before going on to repeat the feat with St Mary’s CBS, Belfast, the following year that Lurgan native Frank broke new ground within the sport.

And his continued prowess in Gaelic football saw him selected for the Armagh squad that met Dublin in the 1977 All-Ireland final.

It was afterwards that he subsequently moved to England where he set up home with his wife, Janice, in Derby and it came as no surprise when the precociously talented Anna scorched to the fore in hockey.

Nor did she have to think twice as to where her loyalties lay when international recognition beckoned.

“There was no dilemma for me in terms of which country to represent. It was never a conscious case of putting Ireland in second place but I first played for England aged just 15 with the under-16 team and I just managed to keep progressing since then,” she explained.

“This to me was the natural route to go but I had the ambition to play international hockey so, if I hadn’t got in and had a smooth ride in the English set-up, who knows? However, once I’d put on an England shirt and then a GB shirt, I couldn’t imagine playing for anyone else.”

Yet despite the burst of fame in which she is currently revelling, the very much grounded Anna still accepts that she will probably always be referred to first and foremost as ‘Frank Toman’s daughter’, certainly in this part of the world.

And although she looks poised to move upwards and onwards in a hockey context, she has not forgotten her roots.

“I’m hugely proud of my dad’s Gaelic football background and the fact he’s so well remembered back in County Armagh and indeed Ireland as a whole even now,” smiles Anna.

“I was always very aware of his sporting prowess and grew up with him telling me stories about his Gaelic career.

“When I got older, understood sport properly, and was competing myself, that became more meaningful. Any time we’d be over in Ulster, including for one family funeral, people would be talking admiringly about his playing days and telling me how good he was.”

Having already scripted her own glorious chapter in the family’s sporting history with her parents there to cheer her on every step of the way, Anna is challenging herself to scale further peaks – and perhaps see people bask in the memories these will create in much the way as her father’s have done.

Not only did Anna play a key part in the success of the GB side in Tokyo but she also further enhanced her status as a role model for aspiring female sports competitors.

Energetic, charming and articulate – and with a ready smile – she epitomises the value and vitality of female sport.

Not bad for ‘Frank Toman’s daughter’, is it?

Anna Toman ‘hugely proud’ of dad Frank’s Gaelic football background as Team GB hockey star cherishes Lurgan roots

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