Edinburgh-born Chris Grassick and Alan Forsyth from Paisley have been named in a 27-man field hockey squad for the new Olympic cycle.
The squad has an average age of 25 as coach Bobby Crutchley relaunches his team and their first opportunity comes this summer when England play in the Hockey World League in London.
The Scots, who both play from English side Surbiton, are involved with the country’s best hockey players who look to take their Olympic experience to Japan in three years’ time.
Former Kelburne star Forsyth and Grassick, Scotland’s captain who formerly played for Inverleith, will play a key role in the central programme, Forsyth aiming to build on his impressive domestic goal-scoring record and Edinburgh Napier University graduate Grassick currently working hard to battle back from injury.
Crutchley said: “We’re very excited about this new group. 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.”
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