Renfrewshire Council

Joyce (bottom row, second from right) and the team A trip to South Africa for the prestigious tournament was a long time coming for Joyce and the squad as the Masters Hockey World Cup competition had been postponed twice - in 2020 and 2021 - due to the pandemic. Despite Scotland missing out on gold by just one goal to rivals England in the final, which finished 1-0, Joyce and her teammates are absolutely thrilled with their medal.

Joyce said, "What an incredible experience! I'm delighted we got to the final, even though England beat us in the end, I'm super proud to come home with a silver medal. I also got the pennant for outstanding performance in our game against Chile where we won 2-0.

Joyce with pennant "We worked hard in training and took part in competitions at home to keep us fresh and focused for when we did finally get the chance to go to Cape Town last month. England have a big strong team and have become a bit of an Achilles heel for us, but we're thrilled with our silver medal.

"Cape Town is a beautiful place and the atmosphere throughout the event was brilliant. It was very well organised, and the games were even live streamed through YouTube so my family and friends got to watch me play.

"We got to see a few of the sights including Harbourside where the opening ceremony took place. We also visited Camps Bay Beach, the Nelson Mandela Museum, Cape of Good Hope and we even climbed Table Mountain! I really loved seeing penguins in their natural environment - that's something I'll always remember.

"We've travelled around playing hockey in past and been to places like Barcelona, Holland and Germany but Cape Town is the furthest we've ever been. I'm proud of how we operated as a team, supporting each other well both on and off the field. Overall, it was such a great experience - Great hockey in a beautiful country."

Well done to Joyce and the rest of the Scotland squad for an incredible effort and achievement.

Published on Tuesday 01 November 2022