It’s been a busy month with the European Club Championships in Utrecht in The Netherlands at the start of April and the recent Hockey League Finals at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, and of course national squad training.

In the European Club Championships we finished seventh after we lost our first match against Dutch side SCHC on penalty shuffles which meant we struggled to progress further.

In the Hockey League finals we finished runners-up to Surbiton after losing the final 2-1.Obviously we were really disappointedto lose in the final to Surbiton; it was a great tournament with really good crowds and a good atmosphere.

A lot of our family and friends made the trip and as it’s not far from Canterbury a lot of fans came and watched us so we had a good green and white army cheering us on.

The League Finals were the first women’s club games to be hosted at Lee Valley which is really big for women’s sport. Participation in hockey clubs is now at a 50/50 male and female split so I think we can say that hockey is a sport that is truly equal!

Another great initiative which hockey is trying is having the women’s finals played on the Sunday instead of the men’s.

Normally the women’s final will be on the Saturday of a tournament, with the men’s on a Sunday, however at the upcoming European Championships it will be other way round which means the men will stick around to watch and it gives the event a little bit more kudos and status, which can only be positive.

After my trip to Amsterdam with Canterbury at the start of April it wasstraight back into training at Bisham,although this last week has been a recovery week.

So whilst we are still training it’s not as ‘all out’ as the other weeks as it’s about ensuring your body has recovered from the tournaments you have played and is ready for the next one.

Our next big test is the test series against Japan which gets underway on the 26 of April. It will be really good for us to get some matches under our belt ahead of a massive few months with the Olympic qualifiers coming up.

Japan will pose a tough test, they’re a good side and it’s shaping up to be a really big few months which is exciting and a bit nerve wracking. I don’t tend to get nervous ahead of games, when I was younger I would get more nervous but being a bit more experienced I now deal with it a bit better.

For me it’s about psyching myself up for a match and making sure I’m mentally ready to go. A lot of the team do have little rituals and superstitions which they always have to complete, myself included.

For example wherever you hang your kit at the start of each tournament, that’s just where it stays and from then on that becomes your spot.

A lot of the girls put one shoe on before the other in a certain order. For me, I always like to be at the front of the warm up, so when we’re out on court warming up and doing our lateral runs I like to be at the front.

I also have a lucky necklace that I always wear, it’s my ‘LivTo’ necklace which says ‘live to love’ on it and that always reminds me to just enjoy every game that I play.

Investec, the specialist bank and asset manager, support women's hockey from grass roots level through to the national team - investec.co.uk/hockey or on Twitter @Investec_Sport