Teenager’s heroes as a kid are now her team-mates

EMILY SCARRATT and Sarah Hunter are showing Alex Baker the way to women’s rugby greatness, writes Will Jennings of Sportsbeat.

The up and coming rugby union star currently plays for Loughborough Lightning and has also earned international recognition with England Under-20s.

The fly-half trains with experienced Red Rose internationals Scarratt – a fellow kicker – and Hunter at Lightning on a day-to-day basis and says she’s relishing the experience of learning from the best.

“My heroes when I was a kid are the people I’m playing with now,” said Baker, 18, who is financially supported by a three-year partnership between GVC Holdings and SportsAid as part of GVC’s

Pitching In initiative. “When I was 13 or 14 I went down to Twickenham for a school competition I won and I got to meet Sarah and Scarratt – and now I’m playing with them as my team-mates!”

The Loughborough University student has experience in both the Sevens and 15-a-side game.

Sevens is an Olympic sport but the full format has the prestige of a Rugby World Cup – so which one would Baker prefer?

“I’d rather represent England at a World Cup than the Olympics,” said Baker, right. “It would be great and a dream come true.”

■GVC is proud to be championing the next generation of British sporting heroes by providing talented young athletes with financial support and personal development opportunities in partnership with SportsAid. For more details, visit: