The 19-year-old back three player will join forces with her University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Rugby teammate Poppy Fletcher to lead the 30-strong-squad at the tournament having been named tour co-captains. A matchday captain will be chosen for each fixture, but Walker and Fletcher will have a big role to play throughout.
Running from July 4-14 in Parma, Italy, the inaugural development competition will feature all Six Nations teams and will include three competitive match days designed to offer a new opportunity for international rugby experience.
Scotland fly out on Tuesday ahead of their opening game with the hosts on Thursday, and Walker said: “We are all really excited ahead of this challenge.
“A lot of us have known each other for a few years now and played in the under-18s two years ago and then the Futures last year so we feel like we have grown up as a group and we cannot wait to play on this stage now.
“We have had some good training camps in recent weeks, but nothing beats playing matches and we are just focused on the first match and then taking things from there.
“A lot of the girls in the travelling squad gained quite a bit of experience during the Celtic Challenge between December and March and certainly for myself being involved with Edinburgh Rugby was a big boost for me.
“I was able to work on my skills during that period as well as learning about executing under pressure because we were playing against some good teams.
“As a young player I had to fight to get into the matchday 23 while training with current Scotland internationalists and a lot of senior players showed me what it is all about.
“I think I came on as a player during that time and hopefully I can keep building during this Summer Series.”
It was at primary school that Walker’s rugby journey began.
“I started rugby when I was in primary six, so I was about 11 years old and my PE teacher at the time convinced me to head along and play and then things just went from there,” Walker explained.
“I then continued to play in high school [at the Community School of Auchterarder] and that was a great environment.
“At one point we had around 60 girls playing rugby while on Friday afternoons some of us would be doing rugby sessions and at the weekends we’d often be travelling on a mini bus around Scotland to play in matches and tournaments.
“I have great memories from that and I made lots of good friends during that time. I think that is the thing that is so great about rugby, it really is a community and everyone helps each other out and plays for each other too.”
Back then Walker was a scrum-half, but she soon became a centre and has now settled in the back three and can play wing or fullback.
Her school rugby lasted until she was 15 and she then played for Tayside and Fife and then Stirling County before moving to the capital for university. She is now in her second year of a biological sciences degree at the University of Edinburgh.
“Rugby was definitely one of the reasons why I wanted to study at Edinburgh because the rugby programme there is very good and I have enjoyed being a part of it over the last couple of years,” Walker said.
On selecting Walker as one of the co-captains for the Women's Summer Series, Scotland head coach Claire Cruikshank said: “Hannah is one of the players who has come right through the pathway system to Scotland under-18s and onwards to Edinburgh and the Celtic Challenge.
“She is someone who has really grown over the last 12 months. She went to Italy last year with the Scotland Futures. She was maybe one of the younger players learning then, but that experience helped her and she has come on a lot.
“Hannah is a powerful, quick player who is good in attack and defence. She has grown into a leader and I am excited to see how her and Poppy work together along with the wider leadership group when we are over in Italy.”
