Junior Scots target promotion in European competitions

 

Promotion to the European Championship in two years’ time is the clear target for both Scotland U21 Men and Women when they compete in the EuroHockey Junior Nations Championship II.
Former Scotland and Great Britain international Graham Moodie will lead Scotland U21 Men as head coach when they compete in the men’s competition in Lousada, Portugal from 13-20 July.
Moodie’s side have been drawn in Pool A alongside Belarus and Italy. Ireland, Portugal, Russia and Ukraine are the teams in Pool B.
Scotland U21 Men Manager Fraser McCurdy said, “In preparation for the European competition, the squad has played a number of international matches against top opposition so far this summer, including England, Spain, Ireland, Germany, France and Austria.
“The squad’s application and commitment to continually improve has been evident in their performances, particularly when we have defeated England, France and Austria, all of whom play in the European Championship.
“We have warm-up matches against Ireland before the tournament begins with our first match against Belarus.
Ten members of the Scotland U18 squad that successfully maintained the team’s place in the European U18 Championship last summer have stepped up a level to join Gregor Hirst, Michael McKenzie, Andrew Malcolm, Craig Morton and Sean Hadfield, all who have at least two years’ experience of playing with the U21 squad. Ross McIntyre has been released from the Senior Men’s training squad to bolster the U21’s promotion challenge.
Grange’s Hamish Imrie is also selected after recovering from a year-long ACL injury, while 16 year-old goalkeeper James Carrie is added after making his international debut against France last month.
Scotland U21 Head Coach Neil Menzies and his squad travel to Vienna, Austria for the women’s competition from 14-21 July.
The format of the competition is slightly altered, with three pools of three teams competing in the early stages. The Scots find themselves up against Ireland and Lithuania in Pool C; Italy Austria and Poland make up Pool A, Belarus, Turkey and Ukraine are drawn in Pool B.
Scotland U21 Head Coach Neil Menzies said, “Our target is to win promotion to the top division. We believe that to be a realistic target. The change to the format means that there is less room for error.  Essentially we have to win our first two games and ensure we win our section. Assuming we do that we might get away with a loss in the play-offs.
“We have been unlucky to get Ireland in our section as they are ranked lower than their standard deserves. Having previously dropped out of European competition they have had to start again and work up the levels from the bottom. While we should not worry over playing them, they will probably be our highest threat in the section.”
A number of Menzies’ squad have been exposed to the rigours of the senior women’s training sessions and friendly matches in the lead up to the Commonwealth Games, including Glasgow 2014 reserve goalkeeper Nicki Cochrane, Mairi Drummond, Louise Campbell, Maisie Morris, Jennifer Eadie and Kirsten McIntosh.
Several of the squad have also made the successful transition from the Scotland U18 Girls side that won promotion from the European U18 Championship II in Spain last summer.

Promotion to the European Championship in two years’ time is the clear target for both Scotland U21 Men and Women when they compete in the EuroHockey Junior Nations Championship II.

Former Scotland and Great Britain international Graham Moodie will lead Scotland U21 Men as head coach when they compete in the men’s competition in Lousada, Portugal from 13-20 July.

Moodie’s side have been drawn in Pool A alongside Belarus and Italy. Ireland, Portugal, Russia and Ukraine are the teams in Pool B.

Scotland U21 Men Manager Fraser McCurdy said, “In preparation for the European competition, the squad has played a number of international matches against top opposition so far this summer, including England, Spain, Ireland, Germany, France and Austria.

“The squad’s application and commitment to continually improve has been evident in their performances, particularly when we have defeated England, France and Austria, all of whom play in the European Championship.

“We have warm-up matches against Ireland before the tournament begins with our first match against Belarus.

Ten members of the Scotland U18 squad that successfully maintained the team’s place in the European U18 Championship last summer have stepped up a level to join Gregor Hirst, Michael McKenzie, Andrew Malcolm, Craig Morton and Sean Hadfield, all who have at least two years’ experience of playing with the U21 squad. Ross McIntyre has been released from the Senior Men’s training squad to bolster the U21’s promotion challenge.

Grange’s Hamish Imrie is also selected after recovering from a year-long ACL injury, while 16 year-old goalkeeper James Carrie is added after making his international debut against France last month.

Scotland U21 Head Coach Neil Menzies and his squad travel to Vienna, Austria for the women’s competition from 14-21 July.

Scotland U21 W

The format of the competition is slightly altered, with three pools of three teams competing in the early stages. The Scots find themselves up against Ireland and Lithuania in Pool C; Italy Austria and Poland make up Pool A, Belarus, Turkey and Ukraine are drawn in Pool B.

Scotland U21 Head Coach Neil Menzies said, “Our target is to win promotion to the top division. We believe that to be a realistic target. The change to the format means that there is less room for error.  Essentially we have to win our first two games and ensure we win our section. Assuming we do that we might get away with a loss in the play-offs.

“We have been unlucky to get Ireland in our section as they are ranked lower than their standard deserves. Having previously dropped out of European competition they have had to start again and work up the levels from the bottom. While we should not worry over playing them, they will probably be our highest threat in the section.”

A number of Menzies’ squad have been exposed to the rigours of the senior women’s training sessions and friendly matches in the lead up to the Commonwealth Games, including Glasgow 2014 reserve goalkeeper Nicki Cochrane, Mairi Drummond, Louise Campbell, Maisie Morris, Jennifer Eadie and Kirsten McIntosh.

Several of the squad have also made the successful transition from the Scotland U18 Girls side that won promotion from the European U18 Championship II in Spain last summer.

Scotland U21 Men

Sean Hadfield (Grange)

Gregor Hirst (Clydesdale)

James Wong (Edinburgh University)

Michael McKenzie (Clydesdale)

Murray Collins (Clydesdale)

Andrew Malcolm (Inverleith)

Jack McAllister (Kelburne)

Ross McIntyre (Kelburne)

Lee Morton (Kelburne)

Gordon Amour (Edinburgh University)

Edward Greaves (Kelburne)

Fergus Sandison Dundee Wanderers)

Aedan McCrossan (Edinburgh University)

Jack McKenzie (Kelburne)

Hamish Imrie (Grange)

James Carrie (CALA Edinburgh)

Craig Morton (Kelburne)

Joseph McConnell (Western Wildcats)

Scotland U21 Women

Nicola Cochrane (Edinburgh University)

Rowan Sinclair (CALA Edinburgh)

Millie Brown (CALA Edinburgh)

Claire Hill (Watsonians)

Emma McGregor (Edinburgh University)

Fiona Burnet (Clydesdale Western)

Louise Campbell (Edinburgh University)

Jenny Morris (GHK)

Maisie Morris (Edinburgh University)

Mairi Drummond (Edinburgh University)

Kirsten Peters (Edinburgh University)

Kirsty Hill (Watsonians)

Kirsten McIntosh (Edinburgh University)

Laura Page (State University of New York, Albany)

Kerry-Anne Hastings (CALA Edinburgh)

Jennifer Eadie (Clydesdale Western)

Waverly Miller (Edinburgh University)

Emily Newlands (Borders Fjordhus Rievers)

 

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