Team GB hockey hero Shona McCallin is getting closer to making her comeback.
After receiving a nasty concussion nearly a year and a half ago, hockey hero Shona McCallin is getting closer to making her comeback.
Shona, 27, of Dry Doddington, was part of Team GB who brought home gold in the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil, but has been on the sidelines for months after a collision on the pitch in a match in a warm-up tour in Argentina in February 2018, while playing for Great Britain.
She said: “I was hit on in the wrong place on the soft side of my head. It wasn’t the biggest of impacts but I wasn’t prepared for it, which is what made it so bad.”
Thankfully, there was no lasting damage and now the end is in sight as she targets a place on the Team GB hockey squad for the European Championships in Belgium in two weeks time.
Shona has been gradually increasing her training so that her symptoms from her concussion, which has caused her headaches for months, don’t flare up again.
She started with walking at a steady pace on the treadmill before picking up speed over time.
Despite a few frustrating setbacks, Shona said she was now almost back up to full fitness and had been working on her hockey skills as well as her fitness over the past few weeks.
She said: “I am not quite there yet and I am getting there, but am not expecting too much too quickly.”
Shona has been out to Japan as part of a training camp with Team GB as part of the acclimatisation process ready for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
She is hoping to be selected to be part of the squad to compete in the EuroHockey Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, where they will be competing in a pool with Belarus, Germany and Ireland.
Shona, who has 73 international caps, will find out whether or not she has made the team in an announcement expected today.
Team GB’s head Coach Mark Hager said: “The big thing with Shona is she brings that real experience.
“We are not expecting too much from Shona because she hasn’t played for so long, but I think this trip for her is about getting used to being back on the hockey field and playing at this tempo.
“Hopefully, everything goes well for her and if she’s selected for the Euros then this will be a really good preparation for her.”
Shona began her hockey career at the age of six, playing for Newark Otters and Beavers club and is also a former junior at Newark Hockey Club.
She plays for Holcombe Hockey Club in Rochester with Team GB team-mate Sarah Jones.
