The final women’s hockey squad for the 2018 Commonwealth Games won’t be confirmed until next year but their final preparations are already in full swing. After getting agonisingly close to a medal at Glasgow 2014 – they were defeated 2-1 by England in the quarter-finals – the women’s squad are desperate to make amends but the draw for Gold Coast 2018 is out and with Scotland up against Canada, Ghana, New Zealand and Australia in the group stages, progress will be no easy task.
However, for striker Sarah Jamieson, Scotland being drawn against some of the best teams in the world, including hosts and world No 4 Australia, is an exciting prospect.
“It is a tough draw, but we’re all really excited about it,” she said. “These are the kind of games you want to play in and a lot of us haven’t played against those teams before so it’ll be amazing to experience.”
If Jamieson has her selection confirmed, Gold Coast will be her maiden Commonwealth Games experience having been only a spectator at Glasgow 2014. But she admits that with the squad being cut from 26 players to 18 following a warm-weather training camp in January, they are all apprehensive since they all desperately want to make the final cut.
“The atmosphere in the squad is good, but everyone is a bit nervous about selection so we are all just trying to improve as much as we can and work hard in training so that when we go we will be as well prepared as possible,” the Grove Menzieshill player said. “It is funny because we are all working towards one goal but we know that not everyone will make it. You just have to train hard because selection isn’t really within your control – so you just have to try your best.”
Jamieson, who combines a job coaching hockey at George Heriot’s school in Edinburgh with her hockey career, has had a good year which included being named in the GB Development Squad. That involves regular trips south of the border and has improved her game massively, which will, she hopes, reflect in her performances for the national team.
“I had never been part of anything like this before and it was a long trial process to get in but I have learned a lot,” she said. “It’s always good getting different coaching input as they give you different things to work on and they love the attacking part of the game. So hopefully I can bring as much of that back to Scotland as possible.”
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