Lisa Wooding

BSc Sports Therapy

London Met's Women's Hockey team coach
d.o.b. 1 December 1979 in Bishops Stortford, UK.

"My mum and dad both played field hockey and it got into my bones at a very young age. I started Junior Hockey at Club level aged six. I played at the same club till I was 15 and got noticed and selected for County and Regional and then for the England team. At 13, I was playing for Essex under 16s and was selected for the England trials at 14 then at 15 I was selected for England. I moved to Chelmsford to play in the national league at 15 and they were playing national league Division One at the time. During this time I played for England at under 16 level, captaining the under 16 side and vice-captain of under 18 side.

At 17, I was selected for the under 21 world cup squad and then I was told I needed to be playing Premiere League Hockey (top level). I chose to study at Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, due to its close proximity to Bristol which had the nearest Premiere league hockey team, Clifton which I played for during the three years I studied at Royal Agricultural College. I studied and got my Agriculture and Land Management degree with First Class Honours in 2001 and during this time I was also captain of the under 21 side.

The under 21 world cup was in South Korea in 1997 and I travelled there with my team and this was my first world hockey experience and it was a phenomenal experience as we played at the Seoul Olympic stadium where Great Britain's Men's hockey team won the Gold Medal in 1988, this was a fantastic time for all of the team. I have also visited most of the Eastern and Western European countries with the Under 16 and Under 21 teams, and visited South Africa, North America and Canada during the period of 1995 — 2004.

In 2002 my first experience of the Senior Squad (over 21) was at the Champions Challenge in South Africa at which we won the gold medal to everyone's delight (my first international cap)! In 2002 I then suffered a bout of injuries which kept me out of playing Hockey for nine months therefore halved my chances for playing in the 2002 Commonwealth games as I wasn't fit to play at the time. Since then I've been on the fringe of the Women's full squad until recently when my fortunes changed in July 2004 and I was promoted into the top 16 players in the country. Club wise, I am now also playing back at Chelmsford and we are top of the National Premiere league and we are travelling to Europe for both the indoor and outdoor European cup in February and March 2005.

As my father is a farmer, I have always had an interest in farming. Having completed my degree I went into full-time employment with the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) as a Rural Development Advisor and I appraised applications from farmers across the region for them to apply for funding to change their farming methods. Due to the amount of training required at international level, I found it difficult to continue with full-time employment so after six months I finished this job and set up a Self-employed business advising farmers on the application process for the above and I continue to do this at present on a part-time basis. As I was initially unsure about how successful my Self-employedbusiness would become, I did a one month intensive Anatomy and Physio Massage course in Stratford and after that I searched the internet for a course in Sports Therapy, found the London Met course available on a part-time basis which suited me and I started in October 2002 and I'm thoroughly enjoying my course.

In the little free time that I have, I see my boyfriend who supports me, as do my entire family, in all my hockey initiatives. I train seven days a week, with club games on Saturday and Sunday and England training every Thursday at the National Sports Centre in Bisham Abbey, Buckinghamshire. I play golf with my boyfriend when we can find the time and I also enjoy cooking and love trying out new dishes and making things up as I go along. My sister, Emma, also played for England's under 18 side and there was some rivallry at the time.

My hockey goal (which I set when I was in the under 18s) was to play in every major tournament from under 16 to senior level which means I have to play in the Olympic and Commonwealth games and European and World Cup during the next four years to achieve this objective and I will be giving it my all to do so, before my priorities change and I decide to settle down. I advise anyone with similar hopes and aspirations to go for it!"