With exam results and a EuroHockey Youth Championship to look forward to, Richmond hockey starlet Holly Munro has a busy couple of months ahead of her.
The 17-year-old Surbiton player has just finished school at Kingston Grammar and hopes to be going to the University of Birmingham come September to study psychology.
Ahead of that life-changing step though, Munro has the small matter of the European Championships at the end of the month.
Just two days after her 18th birthday Munro will be representing her country in Cork, Ireland, as they look to better their third place from the 2015 competition.
“We’re a really tight-knit unit, which is really important, and we’re confident of doing our best,” said Munro, who benefits from being a member of the SSE Next Generation Scheme.
“I’m within the leadership group for the Under-18s at present, so captaincy hasn’t been decided yet but I’m hopeful I can have that sort of role within the group.
“But either way you do what you do on the pitch, regardless of whether you’re captaining, but it would be a massive achievement, nice to get that recognition and it would be brilliant.
“We have a really solid team this year, we’re very optimistic about medalling and we just had a Test series against Germany – they’re currently the second-best team around so to draw with them has given us all a huge lift, they’re in our group so we’re expecting big things.”
Munro will be hopeful of setting off for university in the autumn with a gold medal in her pocket, and she admitted her decision on where to study was somewhat influenced be her desire to further an already successful hockey career.
She will have to wait until August to hear if her place in Birmingham has been confirmed, but should she make it then she is confident she is in the right place to develop.
“Birmingham are a very, very strong hockey team, so that was definitely a factor for me when deciding my university, but it was by no means the only factor – as much as maybe I’d want to, you have to consider other factors as opposed to hockey,” she added.
“They have a really good psychology course too, making going there for hockey a bonus more than a defining decision.
“It’s a big transition, but I’m really excited about being able to play in their first team and train with those high in the hockey world.
“Hopefully I’ll also get a chance to trial with those at the Junior World Cup, but I have to take every day as it comes and see where that takes me.”
SSE’s Next Generation programme partners with SportsAid to provide financial support and training to the sports stars of the future. Keep up to date with the latest @SSENextGen
