Nicola within touching distance of her dream

LONG-TIME GOAL . . . Nicola White (right) has always cherished an appearance at the Olympic Games.

HOCKEY star Nicola White has set her sights on a dream appearance at next year’s Olympics in London.

The former Hulme Grammar School pupil (23) has to wait until June next year for confirmation of her selection by Great Britain, but if her outstanding England form continues, the capital will be calling.

White was a key member of the squad which last month finished fifth in the Champions Trophy, beating Australia 2-0 along the way. It was England’s first competitive victory over their rivals since 2004.

“It has been my dream to become an Olympian since I was at school and played hockey, and what more could I ask for than a home Olympics,” said Nicola.

“It would be so special to achieve this — it would be the highlight of my hockey career.

“You can never be certain about selection, it’s the one thing that you cannot control — so I just focus on the elements that I can.

“Mainly this is playing and training well, which gives me confidence, but there are many more, too.

“We have a training mentality of ‘gold’, which means that everything we do day-to-day is done to the best of our ability whether it be what we eat, how much we push ourselves in the gym or how we look after ourselves to prevent injury.

“We believe that if we train and prepare for the Olympics to a gold medal standard, then we will be ready to step out on to that pitch and drive for the gold, knowing that we have confidence in our preparations and each other.”

Despite a heavy training schedule, Nicola still finds time to return to Oldham, where her family are based.

She added: “ I do get to come home now and again, it depends on training and whether it would benefit me to stay here to catch up with video work, physio etc.

“If this is the case, my mum would come for a few days so that I get to see her, which is really important to me.

“I still have family in and around Oldham and keep in contact with a few friends from Hulme, too.

“I have to juggle the time I have to make sure I get to see everyone!”