Summer of success for hockey star
A GCU student marked his spot in Scottish sporting history after representing his country at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
It was already a summer to remember for Andrew McConnell after graduating with a 2:1 in BA (Hons) Risk Management. After years of graft, made all the more impressive given the impact of a certain global pandemic, it was quickly time for him to turn blood, sweat and tears to his beloved hockey and the quest for Scottish success in Birmingham.
Andrew said: “I played football, shinty, rugby and hockey all at the same time for quite a few years growing up. My sister was the first one to get into hockey from school and my brothers and I tried it as well because there was a club down the road - that’s been me ever since.”
Milngavie’s Western Wildcats provided Andrew with the perfect platform to hone his skills from a young age. After featuring for his district, international recognition soon followed with selections for Scotland from U16s all the way through to U21s.
From there, Andrew progressed to an even higher level with Great Britain’s youth team, travelling to the likes of Spain, Austria and Malaysia for matches.
Despite this, home has always been where the heart is and the chance to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Games wasn’t one he was going to let pass him by.
Andrew, who’s also featured for GCU’s Men’s Hockey Club, said: “In all honesty, it had been a target for me for at least the last two years. I’d grown up watching it on TV, so I knew I wanted to do everything to be there. I actually stepped away from playing with the GB youth team last year to put all my focus on the Commonwealth Games with Scotland.
“During the pandemic, I really hammered it with my fitness - I was doing sessions three or four times a week. I was also down the local pitch with my two brothers, so that definitely helped keep me ticking over.”
The hard work and dedication paid off, with Andrew officially named as part of the 18-strong squad at the start of July.
He said: “I was hopeful of getting a call up but I was still absolutely buzzing when it came. The two guys I live with also made the squad, so it was a nice moment for us.”
Fast forward a couple of weeks and it was almost time for the action to start, with Andrew and his teammates heading to London for two “friendlies” against England, before travelling to Birmingham.
He said: “With a squad of 18, it’s obviously important that we all get on well, so the training camp was really good for that.
“I wouldn’t say the scale of the Commonwealth Games really hit until we entered the Athlete’s Village in Birmingham. It was basically built in University accommodation and it was all really nice; there was so much space and a big pond in the middle with walkways around it.
“We were there for a week before our first game, so it was a good chance for us to adjust to our surroundings.”
Ten teams in total competed in the Men’s Hockey at the Commonwealth Games. Scotland were put in Pool A alongside Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa.
Canada, England, Ghana, India and Wales battled it out in Pool B.
As is so often the case with Scotland, it wasn’t plane sailing. Andrew gave an honest assessment of the matches:
New Zealand – 29th July
“The stadium was completely sold out – it was pretty mental to walk out to 7000 people! I felt a bit nervous but when we actually started, it was business as usual.
“New Zealand are a top ten team and we were ranked 19th in the world at the time. We came out swinging and found ourselves 5-1 up at half time, which was unbelievable.
“From there, we slightly bottled it and drew 5-5. I would have definitely taken a draw before the game but it was really disappointing in the second half."
Australia – 31st July
“Australia are on another level. They actually ended up winning the gold medal and showed just how good they were by beating us 12-0. There really isn’t much else to add to that one.”
South Africa – 1st August
“Our next two games were the ones we had really targeted as potential wins. First up was South Africa, who ranked seven or eight places above us, but we still fancied ourselves. That was a really tight game: we were down 2-1 at half time, managed to come back and get ourselves ahead, but we then ended up losing 5-4 in the last quarter - courtesy of a last minute winner for them. It was very tough to take.
“On a more positive note; I did manage to score, which is a nice memory to have – especially since I don’t do it very often at international level!”
Pakistan – 3rd August
“We knew we then had to win our final game to avoid finishing last in our group. Pakistan were our opponents and they are historically a good team. Again, we were losing at half time. We rallied and managed to get it all square but we kept giving the ball away towards the end of the game and they managed to find a winner with four minutes to go.”
Following the defeat to Pakistan, the two Pools came together to decide the final standings. Scotland faced Ghana, who had also finished bottom of their group. There was to be no late heartbreak this time, with Scotland running out comfortable 7-2 winners to confirm their 9th place finish.
So, how did Andrew reflect on his overall experience?
He said: “We were actually ranked 9th at the tournament but we definitely should have finished higher than that. I think everyone would agree that we were happy with how we played but our results were very disappointing.
“Despite all that, I still got to play at a Commonwealth Games, which is absolutely incredible. Most importantly, my family all made it down for different matches and it was special knowing they were there watching on.”
By Ross Clark
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