HOCKEY: Fairford keeper targets 2012 Olympics
9:00am Wednesday 6th April 2011 in Sport
FAIRFORD hockey star Nick Brothers has vowed not to be one of those left on the sidelines for London 2012 when the Great Britain squad separates the wheat from the chaff.
The 27-year-old has been in and around the England hockey set up since making his debut in January 2005, going on to make 24 caps as reserve to regular goalkeeper James Flair.
But the former Millfield School pupil was given the nod to keep goal during last month’s FIH Indoor World Cup in Poznan, helping England finish sixth.
However, with the England squad being cut from 30 to 16 over the next 500 days in the build up to London 2012, Brothers admits his chances of playing under the five rings seems slim, although that won’t stop him from trying.
“Like everyone else, London 2012 is the one tournament that everyone wants to go to but it is obviously going to be difficult for everyone in the team,” he said.
“We have a squad of 30 players that could all be selected for the Olympics but that is difficult because there can only be 16 guys who go there in the end and it’s going to be tough to pick.
“But at the same time, I think all the guys wouldn’t want it any other way. If you are playing at the elite level of your sport you want to be challenged and you wouldn’t want complacency to set in.
“It’s obviously not ideal from a personal level as James is the first choice but it means the best team will be at London 2012 and that has to be good.
“It’s not frustrating, it’s healthy for selection and no-one would want an easy ride because if you were able to rest on your laurels then that wouldn’t be good for the team, so I will be looking to push James all the way and you never know what could happen.”
Before the England hockey team can think about running out at the Olympic Park on July 29 next year, there are June’s Four Nations, August’s European Championships and December’s Champions Trophy to contend this year.
And although Brothers and his team-mates don’t need to qualify for London 2012 as the host nation, the Reading player has warned the rest of the world they won’t be taking these competitions lightly.
“There is a lot of hockey to be played in 2011 and I think different countries have different approaches to it,” he added.
“It is a bit different for us though because we are in a good position in that we don’t have to qualify for London 2012 and so we can concentrate more on the process this year and getting ourselves in the best possible shape for the Games rather than worry about results.
“Obviously at events like the European Cup in August we’ll be going there to win it and we definitely won’t be sitting back – each team will be getting out best.”
- Join fellow Europeans at the London 2012 ‘one year to go’ celebrations at St Pancras International courtesy of Eurostar. View competition details at www.eurostar.com/london2012. Eurostar is the Official International Rail Services Provider to the Games, and also the British, French and Belgian Olympic teams
