KENDAL Ladies Hockey Club star Libby Thwaites has been selected for the Association of Colleges (AoC) Great Britain College Women’s Hockey Team.

The Lancaster & Morecambe College (LMC) student attended an AoC sport trial at Wakefield in November where she was invited to a final selection phase at Cannock. There she was successful in being picked for the AoC Great Britain College Women’s Hockey Team.

It was at the age of seven, during her primary school years, that Libby first became interested in playing hockey. Her favoured position is right midfield, and she enjoys the combination of fitness and skill work involved, plus the opportunity to be part of a team. Since that young age, she has progressed through various youth and development teams, and is now playing for the Kendal Ladies’ first team.

Libby will now take part in a national tournament in the south of England during April, followed by a trip to Barcelona for five days in July, which will include an opportunity to train in the Olympic Stadium. She will also be playing in a tournament with three other colleges in March of this year.

Looking to the future, Libby plans to successfully complete her course at LMC and then either progress to university, and to play for their hockey team, or to travel overseas and join up with a hockey team, possibly in Australia.

During the last Olympic Games tournament, Libby was inspired by Maddie Hinch (goalkeeper) due to her level of dedication and time spent researching her opponents in the hope of gaining any advantage possible. Libby also recently attended a talk by Team GB Hockey gold medallist Christa Cullen at the annual Lancaster and Heysham Primary School Conference which she found really interesting. She said: “It was great to hear that her pathway through hockey is similar to mine. The emphasis was on hard work and dedication. I had my photograph taken with Christa and she wished me luck for the AoC trial.”

For more information on studying a sports course at LMC, visit lmc.ac.uk or call 0800 306 306.