Charlotte Russell is in her first season as Captain for Ambleside Hockey Club. She is a goal scoring forward who has been at Ambleside for five years and takes on the responsibility of leading a very youthful squad.

The team, which plays at The Cinderovens playing surface in Kendal, are having a difficult season. Despite defeating Dalston two weeks go for what was their first win of the campaign, the team crashed to a 5-1 home defeat to Wigton.

However, despite the challenges of this campaign, Charlotte and her team remain full of confidence, and in an exclusive interview I caught up with the club captain, who gave her thoughts on the current campaign

1.What has this season been like for the Club?

It has been a tough start to the season with six players from our first team going off to university in September. However, the juniors who have stepped up are doing really well. The new teams are bonding well and playing really effectively. At the moment the weather has been against us with training and a couple of Sunday matches postponed. However, I cannot fault the commitment of the players, they will come and play in all weathers and give it 100 per cent.

2. What's it been like taking on the captaincy?

Taking on the captaincy this year has been tough. It takes a lot of organisation and preparation before every training and every match, but I have great team mates, members on the committee and Back to Hockey Ladies who all really help to make it a little easier.

Sometimes it can be hard to get a team together but other clubs have the same issue and we are always looking to gain new recruits and get more people back into hockey.

As well as the captaincy I also umpire on Sundays, I am the treasurer and have this season undertaken my level 2 coaching award.

With my pitch performance I am hoping players will see I am trying to lead by example (not necessarily my green cards!) but by taking chances to score when you can and also being willing to play out of position (for me - defence!) which take you out of your comfort zone but you still give it 100 per cent and you end up playing quite well!

3.You defeated Dalston 5-1 in what was the first win of the season. How relieved were you to finally get a win?

It’s a big relief and really boosts everyone’s confidence. Everything just came together, we played our game of hockey, we passed well and took those chances to score. It goes to show what we have been practising in training really does pay off.

4. Ambleside have a lot of young players within the first team, how are they all progressing? How are they adapting to the league and to the team?

We have a great range of players at Ambleside, both in our first and second team. The first team play in the Cumbria league on Saturdays and the second team play in the Netherwood League on Sundays which is the local development league in which both our juniors and our back to hockey ladies play in.

Our first team is a mixture of youth and experience! But it works well and it’s a great team to be part of.

Our second team is such a positive and strong side. They are all really committed to hockey and the club and the experience they are gaining is immense. They are all great players and it is a pleasure to see them play, improve and grow as players and individuals.

5. What's the aim for the rest of the 2015-2016 campaign?

I think the main aim is to keep practising, keep the team together and play our hockey.

At Ambleside Hockey Club we really focus on encouraging and improving the juniors. As long as everyone enjoys playing their hockey, comes to training and enjoys playing in matches you can’t ask for anymore.

We also encourage players to develop other hockey skills such as coaching and umpiring, and we pay for members to go on courses.

Ambleside Hockey, like other clubs, is all run by volunteers, and without the support and commitment of coaches, umpires and of course the players, we wouldn’t be here.

6. Whats the most enjoyable part of being involved with Ambleside Hockey Club?

he hockey and the winning of course! I have been playing hockey since primary school, and have played school, county, university league level and it is just great to play local hockey in a really friendly, fun and happy environment.

7. In terms of the league what's the standard like in the division and who are the toughest teams?

Most teams have the same trouble getting the same players out each weekend due to other commitments, work, school etc. So most teams are similar to us with a mixture of junior and senior players.

Most matches have been relatively close, such as Carlisle 1sts. We were winning at the start but then they just clawed it back.