Hobley puts Scotland hopefuls to the test 
 |
| Scotland |
January 2, 2005
Telegraph.co.uk, UK
> Page Views 422
By Mike Stanger
Lesley Hobley, Scotland's newly-appointed women's national coach, this week takes her charges to South Africa for a two-week training camp at Potchefstroom.
The Scots will face the Springbok under-21 side in a warm-up game on Jan 13. This will be followed by four Test matches against the full South African squad, which finished ninth in the Athens Olympics and are currently six places above Scotland in the Federation of International Hockey rankings.
Hobley's squad are preparing for the European Cup next summer in Dublin, where the initial opposition will be Spain, Germany and hosts Ireland.
Scotland only just crept into the A Division in 2003 and need to finish in at least sixth place to retain their position among Europe's elite.
And this is precisely why Hobley is taking her comparatively new squad to South Africa.
"Our main aim is to establish the squad goals and to look at the different ways of achieving them," she said.
"We'll be agreeing development programmes for each player as well as determining our collective goal.
"Certainly there are experienced internationalists in the squad, but there are also newcomers like Ali Bell, Aimee Clark and Catriona Forrest who are making the jump from under-21 to senior hockey.
"This is a great opportunity for me to get to know the squad and also for the players to become familiar with each others' style of play.
"South Africa will be a real tester for our new squad, but it will give me a chance to see how the girls can handle the match situation."
With the retirement of Olympian Rhona Simpson and others, and with Great Britain defender Emma Rochlin not available, it is a chance for members of the very successful under-21 squad to earn their spurs and stake a claim for a place in the final team for Dublin.
It will certainly be a busy schedule for Bell, Forrest and Clark, who plays all her hockey for the English side Hightown.
They will also be lined up to form the basis of the under-21 side that competes in the Junior World Cup in Chile later this year.
Other youngsters getting their chance include Vikki Bunce (Grove), Louise Munn (Grange) and the Giffnock duo of Julie Kilpatrick and Fiona Sullivan.
Your opinion counts.
Rate this article or enter your comments below.
|
