INTERNATIONAL hockey star Lisa Wooding has set herself a strict timetable to get back into the Great Britain team for the 2012 Olympics, writes Jon Murray.

The 30-year-old right half, who plays for Premier League Reading and lives in Shillingford, near Wallingford, is approa-ching her 100th cap for England and GB.

Wooding is making sure she recovers properly this time from a recent knee operation after admitting that she probably returned too early.

She also has to juggle her time to look after her ten-month-old baby son, Haydn.

But Wooding is nothing if not fiercely determined, and having achieved all of her previous goals, she sees no reason why she can’t realise her final dream, to play in the Olympic Games when it is staged in London.

A very positive player, with a motto of “focus on the now”, Wooding has already overcome a number of injury breaks during her career.

She had knee operations in 1996 and 1998 to remove meniscus. She also had a back injury in 2001-2 and a torn calf muscle in 2007. All of these affected her performance and she had to take time out, but bounced back.

And she is very focused on returning soon to top-level hockey after the op to clean out and strengthen her left knee.

Along with fiance Simon Letchford, one of the country’s top hockey coaches, she moved to Oxfordshire last August, three weeks after Haydn was born, after living in Germany for a year.

“We moved to this area for two reasons,” she said.

“We needed to be near to Bisham Abbey if I wanted to return to playing internationally, as the team trains there together for three days a week.

“Simon coaches the National Perfor-mance Centre in Birmingham, at Bisham and at Reading, so we needed to be based between the three locations.”

“Not only have I had to get over a difficult birth, I have also had to rehab my knee properly and have obviously been looking after my little boy.”

But two local businesses have been supportive.

“Scamps nursery in Benson is supporting me with childcare for my little boy while I am training, and Hightone Health & Fitness Club in Wallingford have given me access to their training facilities.

“Without this support, it would make my comeback very difficult,” she said.

“I absolutely love being a mother, but I also love being an international hockey player and now I finally feel I can be both.”

Making her England debut against India in 2001, Wooding has gone on to collect 66 caps for England and 31 for Great Britain.

“The whole build-up to the Olympics will be amazing and the hockey itself will be in the Olympic Park,” she added.

“The next year is going to be a really important one for me.

“I’ve got to get back fit for Reading’s season, with just a short break when we get married in Marlow on August 10 – Haydn’s birthday – then I need to get myself good enough for England level.

“I really want to get to my 100th cap, that would be a great achievement.

“But it’s the London Olympics that’s my ultimate goal.”