If the character profile of Ian Sloan given by his coach at Wimbledon Hockey Club is anything to go by, the midfielder has a bright international future ahead of him.
Sloan bagged his first goal for Great Britain yesterday in the second Test win over Argentina, which squared the series at 1-1 ahead of tomorrow’s decider.
The 21-year-old, who appeared for Ireland in the Olympic qualifiers in 2011, qualified to play for GB and England in April this year, and he made his debut the following month - going on to make three appearances for both England and Great Britain.
His club coach, Ben Marsden, reckons he could find himself on the plane to the Rio Olympics.
“Ian is a very consistent midfielder for Wimbledon, and he has a metronomic personality where he is very steady, a head-down trainer, who gets on with it,” he said.
“He’s a very committed trainer who works extremely hard to get the areas of his game perfected – he’s extremely fit. He is also very determined to be the best he can.
“A great controlling player in that midfield holding role, he links with the defence well, he shows for the ball and his distribution is excellent.”
Sloan played a key role on the domestic scene last season, helping secure the Men’s Hockey League Premier Division title for Wimbledon.
Marsden added: “He has grown over the past two seasons with Wimbledon – he’s gone from being very new to a big squad with England and Great Britain, to now being within a viable chance of being selected for Rio.”
Wimbledon, third in the MHL Premier Division table after Saturday's 2-2 draw with Hampstead & Westminster, are at Canterbury on Sunday.
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