Thursday, September 3, 2009

Scotts in our group

Scotland’s senior men face a World Cup qualifier in Invercargill, New Zealand this Autumn, with a place at the FIH World Cup in New Delhi, India in 2010 up for grabs.
The team will be coached in New Zealand by junior men’s coach Russell Garcia, whose assistant coach Derek Forsyth also steps up from his role with the junior men for the qualifiers, which take place 7-15th November.
The Scots’ fifth place finish at the EuroHockey Nations Trophy in Wrexham last month secured their spot in a qualifier. The qualifier will take place in Invercargill New Zealand this Autumn, with Scotland playing in a round-robin tournament along with China, Malaysia, Austria, New Zealand and Wales. The winners will take their place at the FIH World Cup in New Delhi in February 2010.
Coach Russell Garcia said: “I’m happy to be taking on this role, and we’re taking a long term view on it in terms of giving younger players the chance. We’ll be using these qualifiers as an opportunity to get to the World Cup, but also as a stepping stone for the European Trophy squad for 2011 as well as the Commonwealth Games in 2014.”
Scottish Hockey’s Performance Manager Callum McLeod said: “I'm delighted that both Russell and Derek have agreed to lead the programme as they bring a huge amount of experience with them. Both are fully committed and highly motivated to deliver the best possible programme in the short space of time.”

Scottish Hockey Union media release