Great Britain head coach Bobby Crutchley is full of excitement for the challenge ahead after naming his 27-man playing squad for the new Olympic cycle.
Crutchley has included both experience and fresh faces in his squad as the countdown to Tokyo 2020 begins in earnest.
Click here to see the full squad
Captain Barry Middleton, the most capped player in his country’s history, is one of 11 players who played at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games to return and will be chasing his fifth Olympic appearance.
Fellow Olympians Alastair Brogdon, Dan Fox, Simon Mantell and Dan Shingles have all retired from international hockey since Rio while leading goalscorer Ashley Jackson has opted to make himself unavailable for selection.
But while some names have left the scene, it is also an opportunity for new stars to step up to the mark with nine new faces added to the squad for the new Olympic cycle and an overall average age of just 25.
This summer sees the prestigious Hockey World League take place in London with Crutchley looking forward to seeing what his new-look squad can produce this Olympic cycle.
“We’re very excited about this new group, there’s been significant change and we’re looking forward to really getting going and developing the players,” he said.
“When we had the players in for assessment late last year, seeing how keen and eager the players were really reinvigorated the group and will keep all of us on our toes. As always at this time there has been significant change, difficult decisions and we will miss all of the players who have either retired or aren’t selected for this cycle.
“We’ve got some key tournaments coming up this year, particularly the Hockey World League in London and the EuroHockey Championships in Holland, and while we’ll be taking something of a long lens for those events, we need to improve quickly and create a team that will stand us in good stead for the whole cycle.
“I’m excited about the challenge, we have a vibrant squad with a good blend of youth & experience, and we’re eager to get going.” Sportsbeat 2017