Nicola hails her dream half-century

ENGLAND MILESTONE . . . Nicola White.

Hockey:

NICOLA White is gearing up for her ‘dream’ 50th England appearance tomorrow.

The 25-year-old London Olympic star – originally from Shaw – will line up for her country as they take on South Africa in the first game of the week-long Investec World League semi-final tournament at the University of Westminster Sports Ground in Chiswick, London. The match will start at 7pm.

Further Pool ‘B’ games follow against Australia on Sunday (5pm) and Tuesday (8pm), but for now White is solely focused on the clash against South Africa, and that personal landmark.

Proud former Hulme Grammar School pupil White said: “I’m really chuffed to have reached such a milestone in my international career. It has gone really quickly since I made my England debut four years ago, but to have now reached this amount of caps is unbelievable really.

“Reaching 50, 100 or even more caps is something I just dreamed of as a child, but I’ll be there tomorrow now and it’s really exciting.

“My mum and her partner are coming to London to watch the game so it’ll be so nice for them to be there giving me their support.”

As hosts the England team, under head coach Jason Lee, will be busting a gut to make the tournament final on Sunday week.

And that’s not just to attempt to book a place in the World League Final in Argentina in November, World Cup qualification is up for grabs for the four semi-finalists in next week’s tournament too.

“We are ranked four in the world so we should make at least the semi-finals next week,” added White. “That’s the main aim.

“But we know we’re going to have to fight all the way to get to that stage.

“All the girls and Jason are fully focused though. We’re confident – there is definitely an underlying belief in the camp that we’ll be okay.”

The four-yearly World Cup tournament takes place in Holland next summer, but before that the European Nations Championships beckon in Belgium this August.

White, who currently lives in Maidenhead, made her England debut – and scored a goal – in a victory against Germany in June 2009.

Since then she has travelled the globe, winning bronze medals at the 2010 World Cup and Commonwealth Games, the 2011 European Championships and then last year at the London Olympics.

There was silver medal success last year in the Champions Trophy competition in Argentina.

As for her club hockey with Leicester, for whom she signed from Slough last year, White is set to begin her second season with the Premier Division outfit in September.

However, a ‘new era’ is beckoning there after head coach Chris Mayer left recently after 12 years in charge.