A few months before the pandemic set in, there were no shortage of congratulatory messages and images pinging through Scotland’s WhatsApp groups after a stellar year for the Blue Sticks; the squad winning the Scottish Women in Sport award, nominated for the Sunday Mail Sport Scotland award and then winning Scottish Hockey team of the year.

2018/19 was a vintage year for Scotland’s old and new. The national women’s and men’s teams qualified for the Euros at every level from under-18 to full international, while in August that year Scotland women won the EuroHockey Championships II – beating 2018 World Cup side Italy in the final – to cap an event which saw the team progress to Europe’s top flight in front of capacity crowds.