Lynne Beattie made history when she captained Great Britain to their first indoor win at an Olympic Games in 2012 and become the first ever FIVB Hero from Scotland.
She is no less focused for this weekend’s CEV European Championships Small Countries Division qualifying event in her native Scotland.
The 28 year-old has played for club sides all over Europe – Slovenia, Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and England – in an impressive cv but admits there is always something special about returning to her roots.
Scotland face Malta, Northern Ireland, Ireland and Cyprus this weekend, looking to fill one of the two qualifying places for next year’s finals. Her Scotland team-mates will look to her for inspiration and Beattie has set the bar high. She won a league and cup double with Team Northumbria in England this year and wants that winning mentality to translate to the international stage.
“Since London 2012, with no international outlet at a British level, I have been delighted to get back involved with the Scotland team after deciding to stay in the UK and play my volleyball at Northumbria University,” she stresses. “I have attempted to travel north for training wherever possible and feel really lucky that I am still able to play international volleyball because I know my English team-mates would love to have this opportunity [there is no England team at present].”
The hosts not only have Beattie’s undoubted talents but also Olympic team-mate Jo Morgan, the back-up setter at London 2012.
Cyprus will start as favourites to win the group, having never lost to Scotland but Beattie is upbeat about the home prospects.
“If you ask me, I 100% believe we have the ability and the experience to beat Cyprus for the first time,” Beattie continues.
“We came close last year and this year we are a stronger team with a strong team spirit and desire to win.
It will be amazing to compete in front of a home crowd again for the first time since London.
“The advantage of a home crowd, knowing everyone is supporting you can have a massive impact, but it also brings pressures that don’t present themselves when you play away from home. “With the experience of playing at a home Olympics, myself and Jo are doing everything we can to share our experiences with the team to make sure we are fully prepared to compete on home soil.
“We are not looking just to achieve qualification – we want to finish top of the group and send out a message to the other teams that Scotland are a team to be reckoned with in next year’s finals. I cannot stress enough how excited I am to compete at Perth,
where some of my earliest volleyball successes happened when I played for Mearns Castle High School.”
