Local Championship Winner who believes that the future of Scottish sport could be golden

Even though she is a relative newcomer to the sport, Jessica has emerged as a new talent in the Scottish Hockey scene, after being selected to represent her country in the World Cup Qualifier in 2021, before competing in the Commonwealth Games. As a relative newcomer however, she made bold moves alongside her team to help push Scotland to a decisive win over Wales.

But Jessica’s ambitions don’t rest in Germany next year, as in the future she would like to see Hockey turn professional in Scotland and hopes that a win next year could bring this a step closer to reality.

Jessica said: “For the longevity of the sport, I think it is good to qualify for these big tournaments to put Scotland on that international stage alongside professional players. There is a doctor, a solicitor and a dentist in our team, so we all have full time jobs and we have to fit our training into our working lives. When we're in full training mode, I'm doing about 10 hours a week including a couple of gym sessions, then three or four running sessions and a similar number of hockey sessions. My apprentice manager and my placement manager both give me a lot of flexibility to allow me to shape my day to fit in all of my training every morning and evening, then I can come into work after that, which helps a lot.”

Jessica Ross has emerged as a new talent in the Scottish Hockey scene.

Behind the gold victory win at the weekend have been many hours of training in harsh weather on cold winter mornings. However, the skills she has gained along the way have enhanced her performance not just as a hockey player, but a professional.

Jessica said: “Number one is being able to perform under pressure. You also learn how to think clearly even, when you are tired and you get a strong sense of motivation that keeps you going. You encourage each other and over time you get that fighting spirit as a team. You actually need to have that fight within you to even get selected for the team, which is an achievement in itself. The hard work does pay off.”

Now she wants to encourage more young people and particularly girls to take up the sport, not just to fulfil their athletic potential, but also to gain the life skills that could take them further in their professional lives.

Jessica said: “I think it's really important for us to do well to shout about the sport in general, because then younger people can came along to come and watch and see that we can do well and they could too in the future. Confidence is key to move forward not just in sport but in your professional life and I want to see more girls becoming active in sport because of that. We could see so many more people compete internationally for Scotland.”

Jessica celebrates with the team.

Edinburgh Apprentice Manager Billy Barrowman said: “Jessica’s work ethic is very strong and I’m very proud of her national championship win. Even though she is still progressing through her graduate apprenticeship she has already learned how important it is to pull together as a team in the face of a challenge, a fantastic life skill for her to gain which will help her move forward in her career and in sport.”