My Champions Trophy in Argentina ended just seven and a half minutes after it began.

I was hit on the head in the first game of the tournament and suffered from concussion. It was gutting.

It had been a real honour to be appointed captain for the tournament so to have the experience cut short so dramatically was disappointing. However, from a team perspective, it was a fantastic tournament for us.

Of course we always want to finish in the medal positions (England finished fifth), and although it was difficult for me being on the sidelines, we came away with lots of things to work on, which is exciting.

It was a good opportunity for new players who hadn’t played at big tournaments before to step up and play at that level. We’re not that far away from the top four sides in the world, but we’re not quite there yet.

The difference between those positions is so tiny and we’re on one of the best training and performance programmes in the world, so we’re in a good position. We can now work on those things that make the difference with those tiny margins.

Winning our last few games in the tournament was really important and to come away from the Champions Trophy knowing we can compete with those top sides was a huge boost.

After the concussion I was quite unwell, so I followed a different, quite low key programme over Christmas, only doing my first proper running session last Saturday.

Over the festive period my training was quite steady and progressive. I worked up from ten minutes on the bike to 15 minutes, to 20 and then onto running and then back doing weights and more sport specific training.

It’s been quite slow and I’m raring to get back together into full training with the squad.

I had a really quiet relaxing time over Christmas. It was a great chance to catch up with my family. It was nice to completely chill out. I spent a few days in Devon as well with friends which was lovely. I did find a local gym I could use was able to keep training, so I went walking on the beach and enjoyed the hot tub.

Another lovely note to end 2014 was being named the athlete who had ‘given back’ the most number of days since the London Olympics by UK Sport.

This includes things like visiting schools, attending tournaments to give out prizes and doing things to hopefully inspire more children and young people to take up sport.

It is really important as an athlete to give back, as we get so much from our sport.

Hockey actually had three athletes in the top ten (Hannah McLeod and Nicola White were the others) which shows how important we feel it is to give back and inspire young people to take up the sport.

For me, 2015 is going to be massive. It’s not technically a New Year’s resolution as such but one of my aims for 2015 is to be in the best shape possible, and be the fittest I’ve ever been going into the Olympic qualifiers.

Away from hockey, maintaining the balance between hockey and training and seeing family and friends is key.

It can be difficult as an athlete to remember there is life outside your sport, but it’s really important to keep that balance.

In terms of my hockey, tournaments are what I love and this year we have two massive ones with the Olympic qualifiers and the European Championships. We’ve been together for two years now as a squad and we’ve got another five months together before the qualifiers.

It’s amazing how much you can progress in five months, so we’re feeling confident heading into what’s going to be a huge 2015.

l Investec, the specialist bank and asset manager, support women’s hockey from grass roots level through to the national team – investec.co.uk/hockey or on Twitter @Investec.