England and Britain men’s hockey head coach Bobby Crutchley is relishing the challenges ahead this year after announcing a new centralised training squad including several London 2012 Olympians.
Of the 30-man squad captain Barry Middleton, Nick Catlin, Dan Fox, Ashley Jackson, Iain Lewers, Harry Martin, Rob Moore and Richard Smith all helped Britain finished fourth at London 2012.
Middleton, Smith and Catlin will return to the centralised programme once they have finished their respective season in Holland and Belgium with seven newcomers also chosen.
Keeper James Bailey, David Beckett, Tom Carson, Ross Gilham-Jones, Phil Roper, Patrick Smith and Tim Whiteman are the new faces included who are yet to win a cap for either senior team.
Gilham-Jones and Roper represented Team GB at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival back in January as did Andy Bull who is also named on the squad with the trio winning silver Down Under.
And Crutchley, who was named head coach of the England and Great Britain men’s teams in February, can’t wait to see what tests the summer brings.
“I am very excited about working with this new group of athletes. There have been a number of changes made since last summer and we know as a squad there is a lot of hard work ahead,” he said.
“This summer will see a home nation focus as we prepare for the FIH World League in Malaysia and then the European Championships in Belgium.”
© Sportsbeat 2013