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Alison Ramsay MBE - Hockey Player
Alison has played hockey for Scotland and Great Britain over 200 times. Awarded the MBE in 2001, Alison lives in Perthshire and was a Brownie and a Guide."Success is so much more enjoyable if you have had to really work for it."
Perth is a great place to live. I like the size of the town-not too big so that you feel you are anonymous in it but large enough that it has all the facilities you need. It is really easy to travel to the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow but it is also surrounded by beautiful countryside. A big plus - there are no traffic jams on my way in to work!
Without a doubt the achievement of which I am most proud
is winning the Bronze medal at the Barcelona Olympics.
GB were the underdogs at the tournament. In the bronze
medal game we were one goal down after a couple of minutes.
We were playing against a team that had regularly beaten
us over the previous four years and who had denied us
a medal at the previous Olympics in Seoul.
The Koreans
were full time professional athletes and we were all
working full time and trying to fit our hockey and training
around our jobs. The Koreans were used to playing in
hot temperatures and we were not and it was over 90F
during the match.
However I knew what it felt like to
come away from an Olympics with nothing and was absolutely
determined not to feel the same way after that match.
There were others in the team who felt the same way
and we dug deep and eventually won 4-3.
The feeling of relief and then elation at the final whistle was unbelievable. Standing on the medal rostrum having the medal put around my neck is a moment that I'll never forget.
The lowest point in my career came when we reached the
semi finals in the Seoul Olympics and then came away
losing the bronze medal game finishing fourth. Fourth
is the worst position to end up in a competition as
you have been so close to a medal but come away with
nothing to show for your efforts.
Even although I was
one of the oldest players in the squad I knew that if
I worked hard I could perhaps still be playing in another
four years time. I definitely feel that the fact that
I knew what it felt like to have come away with nothing
meant that I was even more focussed and determined that
it wouldn't happen again when the same situation arose
four years later.
I used that terrible feeling of disappointment
in a positive way which benefited me in the future.
My success was 100% definitely down to hard work. There were a lot of more talented players playing at the same time as me who didn't achieve all that they could have done simply because they weren't prepared to work hard.
I had no option, I knew that if I wanted to succeed I had to work really hard and I was prepared to do that. Success also is so much more enjoyable if you have had to really work for it.
It was a long long time ago that I was first a Brownie
and then a Guide. However I still remember the great
fun that I used to have. I particularly liked the team
games (Ladders was always a favourite I remember) and
I enjoyed the camping trips (except having to get out
of the tent in the middle of the night to go to the
loo!)
I loved cooking over the campfire even although
most of what I cooked ended up charred black and inedible
- unfortunately my cooking skills haven't improved over
time.
In my hockey playing and work career I have realised
the importance of being able to work as part of a team.
Being a Guide teaches you at any early stage that you
can achieve more as part of a team than as an individual.
In hockey the team is only as strong as the weakest
link and to be successful you have to all work together
to make the most of your strengths and minimise any
weaknesses.
It is not always the team with the most
talented players who win. In Barcelona in the 1992 Olympics
the GB team played against the Koreans for the Bronze
medal. The Koreans were a much more talented team than
we were but we worked better together and wanted to
win more, not only for ourselves but also for our team
mates and at the end of the day we beat them 4-3 after
extra time.
The 2012 Olympics is just a fantastic goal for any young
hockey player to have.
You need to believe that you
can be there and be prepared to work hard…but it
will be possible to achieve your dream. Set yourself
goals. If you don't already play for the Scottish under
16/18/21 team then don't despair. I didn't play for
any Scottish junior team but I managed to get to two
Olympic Games.
Your first goal is to get into the Scottish
side and then to be selected for GB. Whilst individual
skills are important and will initially get you noticed
remember they are not everything and being able to work
well with others is equally as important.
Practice one
aspect of your game with the aim to be better than anyone
else at doing it. I stick stopped the ball at penalty
corners (not the most glamorous of jobs as you weren't
the goalscorer but vitally important as if the ball
wasn't stopped properly then the striker couldn't score
no matter how good they were) and I practised and practised
until I could do it every single time without any errors.
No matter how much you have to give up and how hard you have to work the end result of being part of the 2012 Olympics will be worth it!.
To reach the top of any sport you have to be totally
focused on what you want to achieve and be dedicated.
Talent is an advantage but in my opinion not an essential.
You of course need a certain aptitude for the sport
but attitude is much more important.
I was always very
competitive from an early age and didn't like losing
but I wasn't a particularly good hockey player. I wasn't
selected for any Scottish schoolgirl hockey side and
only scraped into the Edinburgh Schoolgirls reserve
side because I kept turning up to training sessions
and others weren't as persistent! If you are determined
to succeed you will.
What a great incentive it would be to all Scottish children
to have top level sport played in Glasgow at a Commonwealth
Games. Glasgow already has tremendous facilities but
these would be further improved in we were successful
in bidding for the Games. These facilities would then
be available for children in the future to use.
Scottish
children should be inspired by the prospect of having
the Games in Glasgow to try to represent Scotland themselves.
Even if they don't make a Scottish team they may be
involved in the Games in some other capacity .
The publicity
of 2012 and a Commonwealth Games in Glasgow should increase
the profile of sport in Scotland and I hope get children
more interested in different sports and their health
in general.
To find out more about Alison please see Scottish Institute of Sport
