With the Scottish men’s hockey team grabbing the headlines last week by securing promotion to Europe’s top flight, the women’s team will be looking to take some inspiration from their compatriots as they begin their assault on the Rabo EuroHockey Championships today.
The Scottish women will be up against it in Amsterdam though, and will need to be at their very best to make their presence felt over the next week. Scotland are currently ranked 17th in the world and will face seventh-ranked Germany in their opening match of the tournament today before taking on Ireland, who are one place above the Scots in the rankings and the world No.2 team, England in the coming days.
It’s been a busy summer for the Scots
on the international front having finished
in seventh position at the World League semi-finals last month before securing
a 3-0 test series win over France just a few weeks ago.
A good performance at the EuroHockey Championships is vital for Scotland, as relegation from the top tier of teams would be a bitter blow and Amy Costello, one of Scotland’s most valuable players, admits there is a touch of apprehension in amongst the excitement.
“I’m feeling quite nervous because there’s a lot of expectation on us to retain our status in the A division,” the 19 year-old said.
“We had the disappointment of not qualifying through World League but we all learnt a lot from that tournament. We got our confidence back after beating France though and so we’re all really looking forward to it.”
Costello has had quite a year personally. In January, she was one of just three Scots who were invited to join the GB squad for the new Olympic cycle giving the Edinburgh teenager, who plays her club hockey for the University of Birmingham, the opportunity to train alongside many of the team which won gold for GB at the Rio Olympics last summer and it has, she says, opened her eyes to a different level of performance.
“I’ve really enjoyed being a part of GB and I’ve played in a couple of friendlies against Ireland and Belgium which was great,” she said. “I feel a difference in my play already because you get challenged every day. In GB sessions, you’re tackled every single time you’re on the ball or you try to beat a player and you’re tackled straight away. Then I bring that back to Scotland and I feel more confident, so it’s been good.”
When Scotland take on England in their final EuroHockey Championships group match on Tuesday, Costello will be facing many of her GB teammates and she hopes that she can use some of her inside information to benefit the Scots.
“Seeing the England players in training has shown me that they do make mistakes and when we play them, that’s what we have to capitalise on. One of the benefits of us knowing them well is that we know what they’re going to do. Knowing them well can also make it harder too because you’re good friends with them but you just need to put that aside and get the job done.”
However, things have not all been smooth sailing for Costello this year. A stick to the face in May threatened to derail her entire summer but, ten stitches later, she was glad to find out that the injury was not quite as severe as she initially feared.
“I don’t remember it happening because
I was in shock,” she said. “When I came back it was in the back of my mind and made me a little apprehensive but you just have to get on with it and remember that things like that really don’t happen very often.”
As soon as the Scots conclude their EuroHockey Championships campaign, their thoughts will turn to the 2018 Commonwealth Games which are now less than eight months away.
The Scots finished in sixth place at Glasgow 2014 but the general consensus is that the team has improved since then and so while a medal will certainly be a tough ask, it is by no means out of the question. “We’ve already been thinking about the build-up to the Commonwealth Games,” reveals Costello. “If we get a good few months training, we can definitely compete well and get top-4, which is our target from Sportscotland. Going on the rankings, we’re not expected to finish top-4 but that gives us more confidence as we don’t have that pressure on us. We definitely have the potential to do really well so why not?”
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