Emma Love has been called up to the Team Scotland squad by Head Coach Tamsin Greenway ahead of the upcoming Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, after Lynsey Gallagher was sadly ruled out due to injury.

Fighting her way back from an ACL injury which ruled her out of her debut Sirens in 2020, Love has worked hard on her rehab to get herself ready for the call up. “It was a really long and hard recovery to try and build back my strength, I was finally cleared to run at the end of last year and I was able to quickly progress in to training and I am feeling stronger than before.”

Head coach Tamsin Greenway commented on the latest addition to her squad: “On the court Emma covers both WA and GA and is a really quick creative player, off the court she is happy to get stuck in and brings loads of energy to the group.”

Greenway added, “Emma was totally surprised but absolutely thrilled to be brought into the squad. She has been working hard behind the scenes coming into several prep camps. She joined us down in England for our final camp and put in impressive performances and totally deserved the opportunity.”

Love is now gearing up for the challenge ahead, and her first ever Commonwealth Games. “I’m absolutely over the moon to have been selected for the Commonwealth Games”, she added.

“This is always something I’ve aspired to since a young age, so to actually be going feels amazing. It’s been such a tough journey to come back from injury, so it really feels like all my hard work has paid off.”

“I had just been away with the girls for a weekend camp down in England. Tamsin gave me a ring pretty much right as I was arriving back home from the airport. She told me she’d like to take me to the Commonwealth Games and I was ecstatic!”

The squad leaving from the Emirates Arena this morning will arrive into the athlete village this afternoon.

Reflecting on the withdrawal of Lynsey Gallagher, Greenway said, “The whole squad has worked extremely hard over the past 6 weeks during prep camp and are a very close knit group. So of course we were absolutely gutted for Lynsey. Coming back in so soon after her knee operation was always going to be tough and it goes without saying how proud we are of

Lyns to push on and give it her all to try to get back in time. Sadly this time around it wasn’t meant to be and both Lynsey and the squad have handled it extremely well.”

With two previous Commonwealth Games under her name, Lynsey Gallagher is disappointed to not have the opportunity to represent Team Scotland this year, “Making the decision to withdraw from the commonwealth games squad was never going to be an easy one… I put absolutely everything into getting back to where I needed to be to get out there again, but unfortunately time just wasn’t on my side. I’m obviously gutted to miss out on the opportunity to pull on the dress & get out there with the girls in Birmingham, but in order to get back to where I need and want to be, I need a bit more time to get my knee strong again.

“I can’t thank the girls, Tamsin and the team behind the team enough for their constant support, especially over the past few months. The girls have been doing some amazing things in training and I really wish I could have been part of that at the games. But for now I’ll be working hard in the gym, pushing on with my rehab and supporting the girls & Team Scotland from home.”

Team Scotland kickstart their Commonwealth campaign on Saturday 30th July when they take on world ranked #1 Australia in their opening match at Resorts World Arena in Birmingham.