Emily’s form rewarded by chance to mix and train with the best of British

Emily, of Newburgh, was selected for the GB EDP programme in 2018, and the opportunity to train with the GB women’s team presents an excellent opportunity to develop, and impress, at the top level.

The opportunity is definitely not lost on the versatile local player, who said: “It has been an ambition of mine to play for GB for so many years, so to be offered this opportunity to train with them for the next three weeks is unbelievable.

“I am incredibly excited to get started, not only for high-quality hockey but to meet everyone too.

“This is a big opportunity for me to show what I can bring to the game, and I want to embrace it and have fun.”

The GB EDP was launched during the Tokyo 2020 cycle with the aim of developing medal-winning Olympians of the future, with the selected athletes having shown their potential to achieve that during a comprehensive selection process.

It’s an experience that Emily has enjoyed and learned from.

She explained: “GB EDP has been fantastic.

“It’s always really tough, and they constantly challenge you mentally and physically, but I come away from every session having learned something new or having thought about something from a different perspective.

“We have a lot of small gameplay, which has really helped my ability to play in those congested areas of the pitch and look for space.

“It’s also been a great opportunity to travel and play against top teams such as China, Australia and Germany U23s.”

It’s been an incredible few years at international level for the young Scot, clocking up an impressive 23 senior caps in the progress.

Dark was part of the gold medal-winning Scotland squad at EuroHockey Championship II in Glasgow in 2019, a tournament that Emily excelled in.

“Winning gold with Scotland at the home Europeans last year has definitely been a highlight for me, and I loved working with the team before and during the tournament to make sure we were in the best position possible to perform at our best,” she added.

Emily won the young player of the tournament award and scored against Ukraine on the opening day and against Poland in the competition’s semi-finals.

She also played for Scotland in the FIH Series Finals, and scored in a shootout defeat to Czech Republic.

Scotland head coach Jen Wilson said: “I am delighted with the progress that Emily has made over the last couple of years.

“When she was awarded young player of the tournament at the EuroHockey Championship II, we knew that she had the ability to take on any challenge presented to her.”