WATCHING England win the recent Euro Hockey Championships was like an out-of-body experience for Emily Maguire. She watched her team-mates and friends defeat the Netherlands in the final via a shoot-out, saw them celebrating on the pitch and then lifting the trophy. And while she was happy and proud of them all, it still felt very strange to Maguire that she was not a part of it.
One of the Sunday Herald’s Six To Follow on the road to the Rio Olympics, the 27 year-old from Paisley is in the unique position of being the only Scot to feature regularly in an otherwise all-England Team GB. That continuity is perhaps not surprising when the head coach of the England woman’s team – Danny Kerry – is also in charge of the British select. So while Maguire trains and plays most days of the year with the rest of the Team GB programme, she has to step away from the group when the home nations are all represented individually and pull on a Scotland shirt instead.
It is an unusual set of circumstance and when Scotland faced England in the pool stage - narrowly going down 2-1 - Maguire admitted she was more anxious about that game than any other.
“Before the England game it was the most nervous I was before any of the games,” she admitted. “When you’re playing against the girls you train with day in, day out and you know each other so well, it’s a challenge but you really relish it. You just want to play really well and show the Team GB coach that, although I’m not in the England team, please keep me in mind!”
Then came England’s dramatic final success at the same London arena where Maguire had helped Britain win Olympic bronze just three years previously.
“For England to win was fantastic,” she added. “That was a great moment and I was so proud of them. It was a vindication of what we all train for day to day. I almost see it as a victory for the British programme. I admit it was hard in a way, too, to see them celebrating on the podium and thinking “that’s mainly my team and they’re winning without me”. I have to say I found that quite difficult which surprised me. It had never occurred to me before that I might find it a little bit difficult. But I was so proud of them and the way they played. They showed great resilience.”
There was success, too, for Scotland as they achieved their pre-tournament aim of retaining their elite level status for the 2017 championships in Amsterdam, although there was little opportunity to celebrate afterwards.
“Retaining our status was the main thing so to do that was so important for us,” added Maguire, who recently switched club sides from Reading to Holcombe. “During the tournament we felt we had some good performances. We lost narrowly to both England and Germany who are two fantastic teams so to put in that level of performance was quite incredible. Unfortunately we had to get a flight back that night [after the final game against Poland] so there weren’t any big celebrations. A lot of the girls were going to work on the Monday morning so reality sets in again pretty quickly!”
Maguire remains confident that coach Kerry will continue to pick the best players for the British squad regardless of their background, with the world league final in Argentina in December the next milestone.
“I believe in Danny and that he will pick the best team. I know he is aware of my strengths and what I can add to the GB team. If I’m in form and deserve to get picked, then I will get picked. If I don’t get picked it will be hugely disappointing. But I’ll be able to console myself – eventually! – that he is fair in that way and will always pick the best players regardless of where they come from.”
There is little downtime for any professional athlete but Maguire was able to join her family on holiday after the European event. Even then, though, she could not completely put her feet up.
“I managed to get away to France with my holiday which was lovely just to get some downtime and some chill-out time. But I still had to keep things ticking over. I was still training in France every day but it was nice as I would do it in the morning and then have the rest of the day with my family. Exercising and being fit and healthy is a nice lifestyle choice for me. And there were a couple of days when it was pouring down which wasn’t great for the holiday or for running but you just make yourself do it.”
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