Amy Lloyd-Jones is captaining her home-town team and she couldn’t be happier.

The 30-year-old took over as ladies’ skipper at Stroud Hockey Club at the start of the campaign and she says: “It’s brilliant.”

The team are currently mid-table in the West Clubs’ Women’s League Severn Division One and while Amy admits they were hoping to do better, she has no hesitation in stating that promotion is the aim next season.

She’d also like to be captain again in 2022/23, saying: “I’d like to carry on as long as everyone is keen. I’m enjoying it immensely. We’ve got a good social side and we’re a good club, the men mix with the women, it’s a happy atmosphere.”

So what sort of captain is Amy?

“I do like leading but I won’t tread on anyone’s toes,” she said. “I want everyone to enjoy themselves, I think if you’re enjoying playing you are more cohesive as a team and you play better.

“I’m big on the community feel, we’ve brought back fines which is always fun.

“I like to think I’m encouraging the other players, for me it’s all about positivity.

“I’m not the most technical or skilled player, I don’t want the others watching me because they are all better than me!”

And while there may be better players than her in the side, there is a very good reason for that.

And that’s because she has only recently turned herself into an outfield player.

“I play left forward for Stroud but before that I was always a goalkeeper,” she explained.

“I started off as goalkeeper with Stroud juniors when I was 12 and it wasn’t until I returned to the club three or four years ago that I started playing out on the pitch.”

In between times she played for Lansdown before playing for Cheltenham in the National League, so she was clearly a pretty good goalkeeper.

So why did she give it up?

“There’s a lot of pressure being a goalkeeper, the highs and lows are massive,” she said. “If you make a mistake it’s obvious what’s going to happen, it nearly always results in a goal.

“It’s very, very different when you are in goal. When the team are doing shooting drills, you’re on your own. Now I’m one of the players shooting at the goalkeeper, I feel much more part of the team.”

It also means she doesn’t have to carry all that goalkeeping kit around with her – padded shorts, leg guards, padded chest plate, kickers, elbow pads, gloves (with a stick in one of them) and helmet – although she does go back in goal just occasionally.

“Once a season, it’s just a little nod to goalkeeping,” she said, before adding with a laugh, “that’s why I play left forward because as a goalkeeper you’re so used to kicking a ball, I need to be as far away from our own goal as possible!”

She says she gets her “fair number of goals” but, far more importantly than that, she says playing out on the pitch has “refreshed her love for hockey”.

And that love of all things hockey is clearly rubbing off on those around her and she hopes it will continue to do so for a fair few seasons yet.