Katie Shillaker dreams of going to the Olympics in Los Angeles and knows the next couple of months could be decisive in making that a reality.
Still only 22, the Harlequins flyer has been captaining the GB women's sevens team this year on the HSBC SVNS World Series, most recently at the prestigious Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens.
A new format has seen just the world's top eight teams competing on the circuit, putting GB up against the world's best over the first six events. That changed in Hong Kong, where four teams from HSBC SVNS 2 – the second division circuit – joined in the fun, and they will also do so for the last two events, with a place at the highest level next season on the line.
At the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, GB avenged a pool loss to South Africa in the play-offs on their way to 10th overall. With Olympic qualification set to be decided in 2027, Shillaker knows this is a vital period to show GB's potential.
She said: 'Ideally, I want to see the Olympics. It's something that I think I've always wanted in my back of my mind, but I always thought I'll never get in the GB team. And then when I got a call-up last year, I knew that my heart was set, where I wanted it to be. To play in the LA Olympics would be a dream, because for me, 15s, I can kind of do that whenever and I can go back to that, but sevens is such a good game, and I'm at such a good age. For the Olympics, I'll be 23, turning 24, so I think it's a good time in my life to do that. So that's what I'm going to push for.'
Shillaker added: 'Hopefully, we work hard the next couple of weekends, we stay in the top eight, and then we build a programme and get a bit more funding and we should be all good to go to the Olympics and fight a way through that. We're parking the first six tournaments, because obviously they were big tournaments for us, we were developing, but these ones are so important for us.'
Shillaker was joined by a co-captain in Hong Kong as the vastly experienced Abbie Brown continued her return following a hamstring injury that kept her sidelined for much of the campaign. Having a 30-year-old two-time Olympian to call upon for advice has been invaluable for Shillaker, while the pair have also welcomed World Rugby's 'Hard as Nails' campaign, encouraging players and fans to show they are 'Hard as Nails' by painting their nails to promote self-expression, inclusion and strength.
'I think it was a great idea,' she said. 'As a girl, to express yourself and show what you're about, going through nails is actually a nice idea, because I always get my nails done. The way that I get my nails done is different to how, like, Abbie Brown will get her nails done, or Ellen Scantlebury will get her nails done, and it's just nice to see people's perspective on it. Abbie loves bright colours, that's how she likes to express herself where I'm more sort of in myself. A French tip is probably my max of maybe a little bit of colour, but I'm a bit more reserved on that aspect.'
That is reflective of their respective leadership approaches, although Shillaker believes that being catapulted into captaincy has been invaluable for her development. She added: 'It's definitely hard. I've loved being captain for personal development. I'm normally quite quiet in teams, so it kind of forces you out of your comfort zone. It has mentally been quite challenging with the girls we've had because I was the most experienced and in a normal sevens world, I'm still very inexperienced and I've still got a lot to learn. The personal growth I've had, especially now that Abbie Brown is back, she is probably one of the best captains I've ever worked with so for me, to learn off her and have that is just amazing.'
After ten events across HSBC SVNS, SVNS 2 and SVNS 3, just two tournaments remain in Valladolid and Bordeaux as excitement builds to a season-ending crescendo, after which the HSBC SVNS World Champions 2026 will be crowned. For more information and tickets, please visit www.svns.com. Fans in the UK and Ireland can catch every match live for free on RugbyPass TV.
