Mens’ World Cup Qualifiers preview – interview with Derek Forsyth

Derek Forsyth, Senior Mens’ Team Head Coach, is a busy man just now, putting in final preparations for the Senior Mens’ team’s participation in this week’s World Cup Qualifiers in Cardiff.

We caught up with him at the end of last week, amidst his busy schedule, and were able to ask him a few, brief questions:

 

How difficult was it to choose your squad, given the relative lack of training opportunities due to Covid?

“Selection for this tournament was always going to be difficult as we have not been able to bring the squad together due to Covid restrictions ( although they have recently been relaxed ) as well as the players all playing with their clubs in their respective domestic competitions, both here and abroad. We have managed to run a few camps for the players based here in Scotland, but the majority of our players play in England, Holland and Germany.”

 

Have you experienced any difficulties with team members catching Covid, any related quarantine implications, and how, if at all, has this impacted your preparations?

“Fortunately none of the players have recently suffered from Covid.in the lead up to this tournament.  This was more a problem for us prior to the Euros in August.”

 

How many training opportunities have you had, especially as many team players are not based in Scotland?

“We have managed to have 4 sessions in recent weeks, where only the Scottish based players were able to attend.”

 

Once you have your whole squad together in Wales, what are your final plans ahead of the commencement of the WCQ on Thursday?

“The squad arrive in Cardiff on Monday 18th and we are hoping to have our first session that evening, although we are still awaiting confirmation from our hosts. Our plan is to have three or four training sessions prior to our first match against Austria on Thursday 21st at 13.30pm.”

 

Derek finished by saying, “Both players and staff are very much looking forward to the WCQ in Cardiff with the aim to qualify for the World Cup for the first time.”

Everyone at Scottish Hockey wishes the team and the staff success during the course of the coming week.

Derek Forsyth. Scottish Hockey Senior Mens' Head Coach.

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