We are so pleased to share the experience of Imi during her England Hockey trials, please see her report below:

My process started over the summer when I was selected for the Talent Academy festival in Nottingham, representing Wimbledon Hockey Club. This was a four-day tournament where we played other Talent Academies around the country and from there, I was selected for an England trial.

In September 2024 I had my first trial which was a two-day camp which included hockey, strength and conditioning sessions, running tests and a talk from Lucy Wood (former England and GB player).

Then in October I was invited to a three-day camp, where our coaches split us into two teams for a Super Series tournament. On each day we would have a relatively easy training session in the morning (often focusing on the things we needed to improve on from the match before) and then in the afternoon we would have a brief and debrief in teams (watching clips from the match) and a full-length hockey match, with international umpires!

After this camp they made cuts and then those who were remained came back in November for a one-day camp, where we had two hockey sessions – the morning focused on attacking, and afternoon focused on defending. Lots of physical drills and over lunch team bonding activities.

At the end of this process, I was delighted to find out that I have been successful and selected for the England U16 Squad. I look forward to a summer of international tournaments.

This is an amazing success Imi, we are all so proud of you – we cannot wait to hear more about your England matches - well done.