BOURNEMOUTH'S Tim Nurse is looking forward to benefitting from more elite coaching with the GB Men’s Elite Development Programme.

The new scheme is aimed at developing medal-winning Olympians of the future and Nurse attended a four-day warm-weather training camp in Lisbon earlier this month.

It was the first in a series of twice-monthly camps the highly-rated 18-year-old will attend during 2018.

University of Bath student Nurse is supported by a King Sporting Scholarship.

He said: “We are effectively the squad below the GB seniors so I will be training alongside some really good players.

“Some of them are over 21 and have already had trials for the seniors so it’s a big step up from what I have been used to.

“Primarily, my age group will be working towards the 2019 Junior World Cup but the ultimate goal is to get into the seniors and go to the Olympics. That has been my ambition for a long time.”

Nurse first took up hockey when he was 10 after being invited to give it a go by a friend at Ballard School in New Milton.

He soon displayed a natural aptitude for the game and recalls: “I didn’t take it that seriously until I was about 12 when someone suggested that maybe I should!”

Nurse went on to win numerous caps for England at under-16 and under-18 level before receiving three age group accolades at the Hockey Writers’ Club Higgins Group youth and junior player-of-the-year awards.

“I didn’t expect that at all but it was quite an honour,” said Nurse. “It is voted for by current and former England internationals and some of the previous winners have gone on to become world-class players.”

That was not the only pleasant surprise for Nurse during 2017 as he was also selected to represent GB under-21s at the prestigious Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia, helping his country win a silver medal in October.

“My parents were planning to go on holiday that week and I told them to go ahead and book as I didn’t think I’d be going to Malaysia,” he said. “I had to call them to say I was going after all – they still went on holiday!

“Being part of the Sultan of Johor Cup was a great experience and has really set a platform for me.”

Competing in Malaysia meant Nurse was away for much of the first month of his new Sports Performance course but he has now had chance to settle into university life and is enjoying both the course and the hockey programme.

“Jody Paul, who is the head hockey coach at the university, was also my coach for the two years I was in the England under-18 squad and I get on really well with him,” said Nurse, who plays for both the University and Team Bath Buccaneers hockey clubs.

“We spoke a lot about the set up here and it just seemed the perfect place for taking my career forward. I also spoke to Peter Scott about his experience here – he is doing the same course and is now part of the senior England squad.

“The sports performance course is ideal too as you can tailor it to your sport so I’m learning a lot about myself and things like tactical knowledge or new ways of working with my coach. A lot of us on the course are playing sport to a very high level and the lecturers are very understanding and supportive.”