They say you should never meet your heroes but for England hockey newcomer Emily Defroand playing alongside Olympic champions is everything she thought it would be.

The Surbiton player won bronze with England at the EuroHockey Championships in the Netherlands last month, taking to the pitch alongside some of Great Britain’s Rio legends.

The team included Great Britain goalkeeper Maddie Hinch, who kept the Dutch team goalless in the Olympic final penalty shootout, and Hollie Webb, who scored a penalty to seal the gold-medal win.

Defroand has worked her way up through the England age-groups, captaining both the under-21 and under-18 sides.

Now, the 23-year-old is at the top and, with a senior bronze medal under her belt, it has certainly been a special few months.

“It’s quite a cliché when I say it, but I’ve looked up to some of these players for so many years and now sharing a pitch with them day in, day out is just amazing,” said Defroand, speaking during SportsAid Week – a fundraising drive designed to support the next generation of athletes striving to represent Team GB and ParalympicsGB at future Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“Everyone is just so welcoming, especially when I first came into the squad.

“I think everyone can now see how close we are as a collective unit, one key strength of our squad is that everyone is really tight knit.

“With the successes that the girls have had over the past two years, it’s a fantastic time to be part of the GB and England hockey team.”

European bronze is not enough though, and England have plenty more opportunities to add gold to their collection over the coming year.

Hockey captured the British public’s imagination after the Rio gold medal and more than 100,000 Women’s World Cup tickets have been applied for, as the event comes to London next year.

It seems Defroand has joined the squad at an ideal time and she admits that playing in front of a home crowd is an enticing prospect.

“This time next year in the summer we’ll have a home World Cup – not many people can say they’ve played in a home World Cup – so it’s a very exciting time for the squad,” she added.

“But our main priority over the coming weeks will be developing as a team and building on the European bronze for future successes in upcoming tournaments.

“It’s a really exciting year, we’ve got the World League finals in a few months’ time in New Zealand – so that will be the squad’s main focus for now.”

You can help support the next generation of British athletes by keeping them company throughout SportsAid Week (25 September-1 October). Please visit www.sportsaid.org.uk/mymiles for more information on the #MyMiles challenge.