Shona’s GB debut

FORMER Newark Hockey Club player Shona McCallin has made her senior international debut for the Great Britain women’s hockey team.

The 21-year-old, of Dry Doddington, gained her first caps in a three-match series against Germany in Mannheim, Frankfurt.

GB won the first game 3-1 but lost the other two by the same score.

McCallin, who plays for MOP in the Dutch Premier Division, said: “It was a real honour to get my first three caps for Great Britain.

“It has given me a taste of what top international hockey is like and has spurred me on to want more.”

Earlier this year she missed the decisive penalty in her final Great Britain Under-21 match which would have earned GB a historic first bronze medal at the Hockey Junior World Championships.

McCallin is in her final year at Tilburg University, Tilburg, where she is studying International Business.

After Christmas she plans to return to England to spend more time training with the GB squad in preparation for the World Cup in 2014 and the 2016 Olympics in Rio.