National award caps Bartlett’s comeback

Scottish player Laura Bartlett has been named as the British Olympic Association hockey athlete of the year.

The award is selected by Great Britain Hockey on behalf of the BOA, and Great Britain internationalist Bartlett has been recognised for her outstanding performances for Scotland over the past 12 months.

The 23-year-old, who represented Great Britain at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, battled back from a bad knee injury sustained in 2010 to this year help Scotland win the bronze medal at the FIH Champions Challenge I in June and the gold medal at the EuroHockey Nations Championships II in August, with the latter helping them seal promotion to the top tier for 2013.

They also lifted the Celtic Cup and won a three-match series against South Africa in July.

On Monday she will travel with fellow Scots Vikki Bunce, Emily Maguire and Abi Walker to a Great Britain training camp in San Diego and the midfielder has high hopes of being involved at the London Olympics next year.

Bartlett said: “It is a great honour to receive such an award and I would like to thank everyone who has helped me along the way. It has been a great year to be part of such a successful Scotland squad. It’s been tough recovering from my injury and I would like to thank all of the support from physios that I received in Scotland and England. I feel I’ve come back stronger and I’m looking forward to the challenges over the next year.”

The news of Bartlett’s award is a further boost for Scottish ladies hockey, which is on a high currently and Callum McLeod, Scottish Hockey Performance Manager, said: “I regard Laura as one of Scotland’s best-ever players. She has an incredible work ethic, determination to succeed and resilience to setbacks. She is a model athlete for any young aspiring player to follow.

“Although she suffered a setback with her injury, she demonstrated her mental toughness by returning well ahead of schedule and competing at her best in the Champions Challenge 1 and EuroHockey Nations Championship II in 2011. I’m delighted that her qualities have been recognised with this award.”

Bartlett, who was born and grew up in Glasgow, took up the sport at school and played for Glasgow Academy from the age of nine.

A former player for Milne Craig Western in Scotland’s top flight, she now plays her club hockey for Reading in England’s Investec Women’s Premier Division.