The Olympics just won't go away for Scott Frew. A product of the Sporting Giants programme set up in 2007 by UK Sport to uncover latent sporting talent, he was thrown in at the deep end of British handball ("I hardly knew the sport existed"), whisked off to a full-time training base in Denmark before cruelly being cut, the victim of savage funding cuts to the GB Olympic programme.

Having given up everything to pursue a dream he never knew he had, he found himself back in his hometown of Troon, London 2012 now just a glint on the horizon.

Yet Frew, 25, is now back in favour, even if he is only on the periphery.

"It all happened out of the blue," he recalls, "There was a change of coach when Dragan Djukic was appointed two years ago and Bill Baillie moved up to assistant coach.

"I was back playing in Scotland and went with the Scotland team to a tournament in Malta and I was named defensive player of the competition.

"The new coach had not seen me and two or three of us were invited down for a trial.

"He must have seen something in me as I was then invited as part of the 18-strong squad to go to a training camp in Brazil. I didn't need to be asked twice.

"Then, just before a training camp in Turkey, one of the players suffered an injury and I was asked if I could replace him. It was literally a case of getting a phone call on the Sunday and asking if I could be ready the next day."

This all happened just as Frew had adjusted back to life on "civvy street".

Preparing for his final year at the University of West of Scotland Ayr campus where he is completing his studies to become a PE teacher, suddenly the Olympics was back on.

Fortunately, his university has been very supportive in letting him have time off to pursue his sport and he was able to travel to Brazil and Turkey at short notice.

Opportunities seem to be arriving around every corner and, as we spoke, Frew was preparing for a weekend trip to Germany to try out for a professional team looking for someone in his position.

He is a player more comfortable with the sport he had to learn from scratch and more relaxed in his surroundings.

He even managed to return to his former sport of basketball and turn out for Troon in their first Scottish League match of the season in September before the Scottish handball season opened.

As well as playing with East Kilbride, he has also been coaching the youth team at Ayr Handball Club and guided them to the Scottish Cup final in their first season earlier this year.

"That was something I really enjoyed," he admits, "Considering I knew nothing about the sport, handball is just such an exciting sport to be involved in.

"I think it really has a chance of catching on in Scotland although we need more facilities and places to play." But that is a crusade for the future. Now there is still a one-time shot at the Olympics for Frew. He knows he is down the pecking order but all it would take is a couple of injuries in the months ahead and he would be right back in the spotlight.

The final squad of 15 - 14 in the main squad and one player rotating - will not be chosen for several months and the way it has gone for Frew so far, you would not bet against him making it.

"Just now, I'd still see it as a bonus to get to the Olympics," he concludes, "It seemed more real three years ago when I moved to Denmark with the rest of the squad and sacrificed everything. It was all new to me and I was in at the ground level and I knew there was the Olympics at the end of it.

"This time, after being out of the squad for such a long time, I've settled a bit more into normal life and I'm more relaxed about it. If it happens, it happens.

"Just now, I'm happy to be in the squad of 20 and to take the chance to impress the coach whenever I can.

"It suits me fine and I'm just setting myself short-term goals and taking it from there.

"Don't get me wrong, it's still a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get to an Olympics and I'll not be giving up until the first match has been played."