This time last year Scott Frew had never even heard of handball, but this month, after being selected from 2500 hopefuls, he will embark on an intensive training program that could see he representing Great Britain in the sport at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

In January 2007, Frew was just your average student, taking courses in sport and exercise science at Strathclyde University and playing basketball a couple of times a week for Scottish League side Troon.

But when his father spotted an advertisement for the British Olympic Sporting Giants program life took a different turn for the 21-year-old from Ayrshire - although he admits that he wasn't sure what he was getting into.

"My dad mentioned it to me. He got the form and sent it away and I didn't think much of it. Then I got a letter back inviting me to a training day in Nottingham. I didn't really know what handball was until that point. I had to have a look on YouTube," he admitted.

The 6'4" basketball player, who had never played handball before the trials, was selected for the development program and is now down to the last 18 players.

"It's a bit daunting. It took a long time for it to sink in. Potentially four years down the line I could be playing in the Olympic Games.

"We'll do 10,000 hours of training before the Olympics and we'll need all of that preparation just to have a chance. We've had meetings with physios and with nutritionists. The set up has been phenomenal."

Frew is no stranger to competitive sport. His talent for basketball led him to high school in the USA where he also excelled in track and field, winning the sprint hurdles at the State Championships. He moved to Abilene Christian University near Dallas to pursue basketball but an injury brought him back to the UK and has ultimately given him another chance to excel.

It has been a whirlwind twelve months for Frew, who has taken a year out of his studies to move to Aarhus in Denmark with the rest of the GB squad for an initial six months of intensive training.

"I'm down to the last 18 so it's in my own hands now and I think if I want it bad enough then I can get there.

"The training was very basic at the start but it has got more intense now. It's really hard going but I've got the drive because I know what is at the end of it.

"The toughest part is training alone at home, but in Denmark we'll all be doing it together. There will be 18 British guys there and we’ll all have the same problems and challenges.

As well as adapting to the rigours of full-time training, Frew has also had to learn the game from scratch – but he has made fast progress.

"It was an eye-opener when you saw the guys who grew up playing the sport. We went and watched a couple of games in Denmark. Although I've improved a lot of these players were in a different class,” he said.

“But we’ve watched a video of our first day of playing, then on of our last match in Denmark and that really showed how far we’ve come. We are handball players now.”

There might still be a long way to go for Frew but after his extraordinary journey so far you wouldn’t bet against him making it.

"Being in the Olympics is something that I've always wanted to do, but I never thought it would be playing handball.”

AW
© Copyright In The Winning Zone, MMVIII, All Rights Reserved