FOR some, reaching the very highest international level of their sport can be relatively rapid.
For others, such as Jenny Eadie however, it requires years of perseverance.
In the end though, if that hard work often pays off, it’s worth it, something the Glaswegian is now well aware of.
This week, Eadie is set to make her debut for the GB hockey team at the age of 27, eight years after first appearing for Scotland.
For well over a decade, Eadie has never let go of the ambition of making it into GB colours, but she admits there have been times when she wasn’t entirely certain it would ever come to fruition.
“Making the GB team has always been a target but I don’t know if the belief has always been there,” the midfielder says. “I’ve definitely always strived for it but it can be hard to know if it’ll happen.
“So making my GB debut is a really big thing for me, with it having been a goal of mine pretty much since I first started playing hockey.”
Eadie, who plays her club hockey for Wimbledon, is one of five Scots who will travel to Argentina for the opening leg of this season’s FIH Pro League.
Also included in the 41-strong GB squad are Olympic bronze medallist, Sarah Robertson, Amy Costello and Fiona Burnet, who is also poised to make her GB debut while on the men’s side, Lee Morton is the sole Scot.
Despite having over 70 Scottish international appearances to her name, Eadie was only added to the GB squad in January of this year, following a trials process, which is when a GB cap began to feel like it was within touching distance.
However, there will be little time for Eadie to ease herself in this week.
With GB’s women, who have won Olympic silverware at the past three Olympic Games, drawn against hosts, Argentina, as well as the Netherlands, they will be facing up to the top two teams in the world four times in the space of six days.
It is a daunting prospect, but one that Eadie is entirely unfazed by and, in fact, it’s a challenge she welcomes.
“I’m very excited about it – I’ve never played in Argentina but the crowds get very into it over there it so that’ll be great,” she says.
“It’ll be tough but it’s a great opportunity for the whole squad. Knowing Argentina and the Netherlands are the best teams in the world means we don’t have anything to lose, we want to go out there and show what we can do.
“And for me, it’s actually good to be thrown right in at the deep end.”
Despite Eadie having joined the GB set-up at the start of this year, it is only in the past couple of months that it’s felt like the build-up to the Paris Olympics in 2024 has really begun.
With the players dispersed to their home nations in the lead-up to the Commonwealth Games for much of the first half of the year, it is only now the Olympic Games have come into sharp focus.
Eadie is well aware that every training session, as well as every competitive appearance, could well be taken into account when it comes to Olympic selection in eighteen months time but she insists she is able to almost entirely block out that fact, instead focusing on things that are more conducive to her development.
However, she admits she is not entirely oblivious to Paris 2024 and the prospect of making her Olympic debut.
“I don’t really think about the competition element between us all in the squad. I enjoy being in the team environment and although selection is in the back of your mind, you really can’t get caught up in that because if you do, you’re just not going to perform,” she says.
“I think it’s about enjoying what you’re doing. Everyone’s very much in it together and we all know that we’ve to do what’s best for the team.
“We had meetings when we came back to training a couple of months ago outlining the different training blocks ahead of Paris and it definitely did bring it home that Paris is getting closer.
“I don’t think about it too much, though – it is the final goal but if you think about it constantly, it can be a bit overwhelming.”
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