Surbiton hot shot Alan Forsyth has been shocked by the form that has landed him a shot at an Olympic Games appearance.
The 23-year-old smashed his third hat-trick of the season to help his team brush aside Canterbury 6-2 in the Men’s Hockey League Premier Division on Saturday.
Scotland international Forsyth scored 18 goals in the whole of last season, but already has 11 to his name this time around – enough to secure a call-up to the Team GB central training programme preparing for next month’s World League final in India.
Selection for the trip to Asia remains a long shot, but the St John’s School, Leatherhead, hockey coach has not ruled out being involved.
And with the 2016 Games in Brazil looming on the horizon, he is in the perfect place to stake his claim for a place on the plane to Rio.
“My form has been a bit of a shock really,” said Forsyth, who is joined in the GB squad by countryman and Surbiton team-mate Chris Grassick.
“I don’t go into games saying I need to score this amount of goals. It happens that the way we are a playing means there are a lot of chances being created, which suits me.
“I was on holiday with my girlfriend when the GB coach called to tell me he wanted to bring me in.
“I’ve recently moved job to a coach at St John’s School and September was a bit of a manic month sorting that all out, so I can train with GB full-time. They have been really helpful.
“The World League is just a few weeks away, so I understand it is a long shot.
“You never know how sport goes with injuries and the like, but you can never say never.
“I’m training with some of the best players in the world like Ashley Jackson and Barry Middleton, so it is a great opportunity.
“I have to keep my head down, keep learning, keep improving in training and keep performing for my club and we’ll see what happens.”
Surbiton’s win over Canterbury – which also featured strikes from Stephen Kelly, Jonathan Gall and Michael Watt – put the Sugden Road outfit two points clear of big spending Holcombe at the top of the league table.
Williams’ side have won each of their opening four games and Forsyth believes the fast start is down to good pre-season preparation.
“Starting a season is always tough because you never know how the team will come together and perform in a match no matter how much preparation you do,” he added.
“But our pre-season match with German side Mannheimer was our starting point for the season.
“They were a very good team and we knew we had to raise our standards from there.
“We’ve made the play-offs every season I have been here. Results do not really matter at the moment, it is more about the performances we are putting in.
“Performances will get you to the play-offs because if you get that right the results take care of themselves.”
Surbiton host Cannock on Sunday.
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