Emily Maguire, one of Scotland’s most successful hockey players, has announced her retirement from the international stage at the age of 28. The defender has been a stalwart of the Scottish team for almost a decade- she represented Team Scotland at both the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games- but Maguire’s greatest achievement came when she was part of the GB team which won Olympic bronze at London 2012.

Twenty-eight years old may seem unfathomably young to be hanging up one’s stick but Maguire reveals that there is no doubt in her mind that she is making the right decision and, in fact, she has been pondering the prospect for some considerable time.

“I’d known for a while that I wanted to stop,” she admits. “Over the last year so – even as far back as last summer – I’d been thinking that now would be a good time to finish. It’s not because I was particularly unhappy but you just get to that stage where you start thinking about moving on.”

Maguire, from Paisley, is in the privileged position of retiring on her own terms. She has not been the victim or injury, nor has the decision been made for her as a result of losing funding, which happens to so many elite athletes.

It is, she admits, a fantastic position to be in, although this isn’t quite the perfect ending. After being part of the GB programme for the duration of the 2016 Olympic cycle, Maguire narrowly failed to make to cut for the final squad of 16 for the Rio Games which was, she admitted at the time, a crushing disappointment.

“I’m definitely grateful that retirement is my own choice although it’s not quite on my own terms because I would have loved to have finished after going to Rio and winning a gold medal,” she says. “I do feel sad in a nostalgic way that it’s ending because hockey has been my life for such a long time. And being part of a team – whether that was GB or Scotland was so great but I have to say that I’m not too sad. I feel like I’m really ready to do something different.”

Maguire accumulated 118 caps for Scotland and she will not be easily replaced in the national team. The first signs of how Scotland will cope without one of their talismanic players will be given next week when the national team face Ireland in a three match series in Glasgow, beginning on Sunday and it will, admits Maguire, be slightly strange to watch a team that she has been a part of for so long soldier

on without her. The Scotland team has improved exponentially during Maguire’s time though, and she is proud to have played a part in that considerable progress. “It’s been so great to have seen the improvement that the Scotland team has made in recent years,” she says. “It’s amazing to think that I’ve contributed to that improvement and we’re definitely a much better team than we were when I first got selected.”

However, it was the Scot’s performances for GB that really cemented her legacy. In the process of winning 59 GB caps, he was one of only two players form north of the border who made the cut for the British team for London 2012 and while her Olympic bronze medal is what she will be remembered for, it is all of the things surrounding her Olympic achievement that stick in her mind most clearly when reminiscing about her career.

“Obviously winning bronze at London 2012 was the highlight but it wasn’t just about winning that medal, it was everything associated with it that I loved,” Maguire says. “It was the whole journey that we went on as a squad, the way we learned to work together and the trust and belief that we had in one another.

"And then coming back to Scotland after the Olympics and going to a junior session at my old club, Kelburn, with all the kids there- that was brilliant. To be able to go to schools and clubs around the country and try to inspire people was great. If I’ve inspired one kid then that’s fantastic.”

Maguire may not been pulling on a Scotland strip again but she is adamant that she would like to stay involved with the sport that has given her so much.

She was a trailblazer herself, showing that a Scottish player can make it in a GB squad which is so dominated by English players and coaches and she would like to help Scotland provide further talent to the GB programme.

In the short term, though, Maguire will continue to play for her current club, Holcolme, which is based just outside of London and a career in finance beckons.

However, for the girl whose only previous work experience in the ‘real world’ is a part time job in IKEA when she was much younger, beginning a new career is an exciting but somewhat daunting prospect.

“It is a little bit frightening getting a proper job,” she laughs. “The realisation did dawn on me that I don’t know anything else other than hockey. So my first day of work will probably be quite scary but I’m really looking forward to a new challenge.”