A YOUNG hockey player from Leatherhead is hoping to break into the England U21 squad for next summer's Junior World Cup.
Eighteen-year-old Kate Holmes is a rising star in the game, having taken up hockey at a young age and progressed through the ranks at Surbiton Hockey Club, training with the first team this season.
She is currently preparing for the upcoming indoor season, while she is aiming to make the England U21 squad for next summer's Junior World Cup.
Further ahead, she hopes to one day play at an Olympic Games, adding that it would be amazing to fulfil that ambition.
"The short term aim is to try and get into the U21 squad," she said.
"But it has always been my dream to go to an Olympic Games and if I ever got the chance, it would just be amazing."
And Holmes will get a chance to learn just what it takes to get there at a four-day training camp next month.
The teenager has been selected as one of seven youngsters from Surrey to attend the Youth Sport's Trust National Talent Camp at Loughborough University, which takes place in the new year.
She will join 90 other aspiring athletes at the sixth national camp, which aims to reflect on an outstanding year for sport in the UK and inspire the youngsters to continue their journey to elite level sport.
And Holmes is looking forward to the camp, adding that it will give her a good insight into what it takes to perform at the highest level.
She said: "It is a really good opportunity to set out some goals for the next few months and an opportunity to be with like-minded people, but not just from hockey.
"It will be interesting to see how other sports do things and to see how everyone else manages sport with all the other commitments in their lives.
"It should be a really good experience and it is a fantastic opportunity for me."
The camp is quite intense though, with 6am starts, two training sessions a day and a series of challenging workshops led by leading sports psychologists and athlete mentors.
The youngsters will also hear from guest speakers such as Andy Farrell and Graham Rowntree from the England RFU coaching team, along with mountaineer Bonita Norris - the youngest British woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
In addition, the young athletes will also hear from Youth Sport Trust ambassador Darren Campbell, who won gold in the 4x100m relay at the Olympics in Athens in 2004 and silver four years before on his own in the 200m.
And Holmes, who attends the City of London Freeman's College, is looking forward to attending the camp, which has previously played host to Olympic gold medallist rower Katherine Copeland.
She said: "It should be exciting.
"It will be nice to meet some new people and I can't wait now."
The camp begins on January 3.
