Bromsgrove's Megan Walsh hoping her World University Games appearance leads to something more - The Bromsgrove Standard

Bromsgrove's Megan Walsh hoping her World University Games appearance leads to something more

Bromsgrove Editorial 20th Sep, 2017   0

AS SHE eagerly awaits news of England reselection, Bromsgrove’s Megan Walsh is hoping her World University Games appearances caught the eyes of national coaches.

The Yeovil Town Ladies goalkeeper was part of the Team GBR squad which finished ninth in the women’s football tournament in Chinese Taipei, at the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games.

The side could not make it out of a challenging pool, which included eventual bronze medal play-off teams South Africa and Russia, but thrived in the ninth-12th classification rounds, beating Argentina 6-1 and Colombia 7-1.

Armed with experience of such a big international event, which saw athletes come together from all over the world between August 19-30, Walsh is now waiting to hear whether she will be attending any England camps soon.




“The World University Games was an unbelievable experience, we were disappointed not to get further, but we were in a tough group so we were happy with ninth overall,” she said.

“The scale of it was on another level compared to what I’ve been used to before.


“I’ve gained tournament experience from it, playing a match and then having a day’s rest and that will be useful in the future.

“I hope the experience of WUGs will help me advance with England, I played alright so hopefully that will get me in their eyeline.

“I was in the England U23s set-up, but I’m too old for that now, so I’m waiting to hear if there’s any camps coming up for the next generation team.

“You just have to wait to see if you get an email and get called up, but at the moment I’m focussing on club and playing well for them to see where that takes me.”

The 22-year-old, who is from Bromsgrove, joined Yeovil from Notts County Ladies in May, when the Nottingham club folded just two days before the start of the Spring Series.

The psychology graduate had a tough series with Yeovil, as the side finished bottom of the table, but she has thrown herself back into training as she looks to keep her team in the women’s top flight.

“I was straight back into training after the Games, preparing for the season,” she explained.

“I got back from Chinese Taipei on a Friday and we had a pre-season friendly on the Sunday.

“The turn-around wasn’t too bad, I tried to sort my jet lag out on the way back so it was alright – it’s just part and parcel of the game, you have to travel and you’ve got to get used to it.

“With Yeovil, we want to stay up. We want to compete and show that we can compete in this league and show why we got promoted last year.”

British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the national governing body for Higher Education (HE) sport in the UK, organising leagues and competitions for more than 150 institutions across 52 different sports.

Over 110 athletes represented the GB team at the 29th FISU Summer World University Games 2017 from 19-30 August.

 

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