Opportunities to impress now at a premium

There are only four Scots left in the women's hockey training squad, which makes Mike Stanger wonder if we are producing the standard required Scotland's one and only Olympic appearance was in 1908, in the very first hockey tournament. It was the French who persuaded the reluctant London organisers to include the sport. To make a decent tournament out of it, it was suggested that France, Germany and England should be joined by the other three home countries.

So, on October 29, long after the summer games had been completed, Scotland - having travelled overnight from Edinburgh - took the field against Germany in the inaugural Olympic hockey match. Ivan Laing, better known as a rugby player from Hawick, scored the first Olympic hockey goal, and Scotland won 4-0.

Scotland then lost the semi-final to England 6-1, but bizarrely refused to stay on to contest the medal play-off with Wales and travelled home on the sleeper after the official dinner.

Scotland also declined opportunities to take part in subsequent Olympic hockey tournaments, and the field was left clear for England. It was not until 1948 that the International Olympic Committee insisted that only political entities should take part, and the UK was designated GBR from then on in all sports.

The GB men's hockey team won silver in London in 1948, with five Scots in the team, and bronze in Helsinki four years later, Scottish representation down to just one. Since then, no more than one Scot has been included in the British men's Olympic hockey squad.

This week, Laurence Docherty, the only Scot in the squad preparing for Sydney, was released to play for Scotland's U21 team in the European Nations tournament in Madrid in July, effectively ending his hopes of early Olympic experience.

The women's game was not incorporated into the Olympics until 1980, and GB did not take part until 1988. That was the year the men unforgettably won gold, with token Scot Veryan Pappin rushed on as a last-minute substitute goalkeeper to give him the medal he would otherwise not have been entitled to collect, having not played in any of the previous games.

Four Scots girls went to Seoul. Moira MacLeod, who scored Britain's first Olympic goal, recalls: "We were beaten for a place in the final by a Korean team supported by a 25,000 partisan crowd." The other three were Caroline Jordan, Alison Ramsay and Wendy Fraser.

The last two were included in the squad for Barcelona, along with Sue Fraser, and they returned with bronzes, the first and so far only Olympic medals gained by Great Britain in women's hockey.

For Sydney later this year, there are nominally four Scots remaining in the training squad.Three of them will be on show in Glasgow this week as GB, ranked 10th in the world, play four important Test matches on the new water-based pitch at Bellahouston, against Argentina, ranked fourth, and Australia, the world champions.

Defender Janet Jack, 36, and her 21-year-old back-line colleague Emma Rochlin are the newcomers to the squad. Midfielder Pauline Stott, just returned from the birth of her daughter, and striker Rhona Simpson, who is still recovering from a wrist injury sustained in practice, both played in Atlanta, along with Sue Fraser.

For these athletes, the opportunities are running out to impress GB coach Jon Royce. The final selection of the Olympic squad will take place in late July after a further series of training camps. But the Test matches in Glasgow are the last serious competitive events in which they can show their mettle.

Observers reckon that Royce will want to take the powerful- hitting Simpson if he possibly can. Goals are vital and strikers like her are the premium currency, with all eyes focused on them after a successful foray. By contrast, Stott will have to work hard to catch the attention in the crowded midfield. And the two defenders have the hardest task of all, as the only time they're in the spotlight is when they fail to protect their goalkeeper.

An earnest question for Scotland's coaches, however, is: are our players good enough? Several other Scots who were included in the larger GB training squad last autumn, have been dropped along the way - including Scotland's top goalkeeper, Aberdeen-based Tracey Robb, and Sue Gilmour, who had taken herself to Germany to play in the Bundesliga.

Another hopeful home-based Scot, Val Thomson, was pretty devastated when she was told.

"It was very disappointing. But Scots will always find it difficult to break into the GB set-up because of geography. The coaches see the English players in the domestic leagues every week. They only see us when we travel down for a training camp."

Even that doesn't always work. Laurence Docherty left MIM Edinburgh last year to position himself closer to the coaches. He decided to play for Frankfurt 1860 in Germany's summer league, then joined Southgate, the 1999 English champions, for the winter season.

Steve Colledge, the Australian "super-coach" who heads up the Scottish Institute of Sport's new hockey programme, acknowledges that Docherty has a difficult choice to make now.

"Away from home, Laurence has had to fend for himself off the field, and it hasn't been easy. If he chose to return to play in Scotland again, we could now give him all the support he wanted. With the SIS, players are no longer losing out on access to good facilities and training. The only thing missing would be regular contact with the GB coaches."

Even here, with Colledge an assistant to Jon Royce, the links are a lot closer than they used to be. Royce himself is expected to be here all next week for the GB matches - and could take in the Scottish Cup finals on Saturday.

"Jon is also expected to be in Glasgow for the women's European club championships at Titwood in June," added Colledge. "And we have invited Jon and Barry Dancer (the GB men's coach) to attend the SHU Centenary tournament in Edinburgh later in the month."

For the "veteran" Janet Jack, this is her last throw at making an Olympic tournament. If she returns to fitness, Rhona Simpson is a must. It may be an Olympics too far for Pauline Stott. And, with years still ahead of her, Emma Rochlin might not be ready for it just yet.

But all of them, you can be sure, will be aching to go to Sydney.

As luck would have it, the Olympic draw just announced has thrown up Australia and Argentina as the first two opponents for Great Britain in the women's competition. It will be a tough baptism, indeed. This week in Glasgow, the remaining Scots could clinch their places.

Women's Hockey Test matches at Bellahouston: GB v Argentina, Wednesday May 17, 6pm; GB v Argentina, Thursday May 18, 1pm; GB v Australia, Sunday May 21, 3.30pm; GB v Australia, Monday May 22, 5pm.

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