LOCAL resident and Scottish hockey Manager Susan McDowall has been shortlisted for the SSE Peoples Champion 2016.

Voting for this award closes tomorrow (Thursday), and Susan, from Stevenston, is just one of four finalists for this prestigious prize, run by Scottish Women in Sport.

As a former internationalist herself, her passion for hockey is as strong as it was in her playing days. Not only does she liaise with all of the training squad about logistics for training sessions, she organises the kit, washes their kit, deals with the budget, attends meetings with staff at Scottish hockey and keeps the rest of the management team in check.

Susan has held this post for three years and they were runners up at the Sainsbury’s School Games in Manchester, attended training camps in Ireland and Barcelona, attended numerous training weekends and recently achieved fourth place in the European Championships II in Glasgow in July.

She was also asked to be the manager to the Senior Women on a training camp in Alicante just a week before we went to Barcelona. She has developed relationships with her international counterparts, which improved how she was able to do her job. She inspires the girls by her passion for the sport and always keeping calm when the players need her assistance. She even dyed part of her hair blue at the Europeans to inspire the players on game day.

Susan volunteers her time to manage this group of girls at a transitional point in their lives moving between S5/S6 and university whilst Scottish Hockey as an organisation has been experiencing a transitional phase with their staffing.

She is like a second mother to them making sure they know the logistics but also is a great emotional support during selection, injuries and non-attendance due to school work deadlines.

In addition, she sacrifices time with her husband and two daughters because she loves the sport and is thrilled to see the players perform beyond the 18s age group.

Her enthusiasm, pride and passion cannot be questioned.

She keeps the mood positive with her humour and impressions, a brilliant motivator and a true inspiration.

Susan has become a cornerstone to a player’s involvement in this age group making it simply unforgettable.

Vote by visiting swisawards.co.uk/vote.php#kformname0.