FORMER King's College pupil Maddie Hinch and Tom Carson, a former Taunton Vale Hockey Club member, have been chosen for the Great Britain and England squads for the new Olympic cycle.

Hinch, from West Chiltington, West Sussex, attended King's College in Taunton and has gone on to enjoy a hugely successful playing career, capped by Olympic gold in Rio last year.

The goalkeeper, 28, has played 57 times for England and 45 times for Great Britain, and has the chance to add to her caps tally as part of the central programme looking ahead to the next Olympics, in Tokyo in 2020.

She is one of 12 Rio gold medallists to make the 33-strong squad picked by head coach Danny Kerry, alongside 15 new additions.

Kerry commented: "We have, I feel, a good depth of skilful, committed, smart, and athletic athletes who are eager to learn, develop and build on the legacy and momentum of the Rio Olympic cycle.

"As part of this group we have also retained an excellent core from the previous cycle, who no doubt will play a key role in passing on the values and behaviours that drive performance whilst evolving the culture for the coming cycle."

As for the men's squad, Carson, who hails from Wellington, has forced his way into head coach Bobby Crutchley's central programme selection.

The 26-year-old, who attended Wellesley Park Primary School and Wellington Secondary School, before heading to study at Exeter University, currently plays for Reading.

Having made his international debut in June 2013, the forward has amassed 54 caps for England (scoring 14 goals) and 11 for Great Britain (four goals).

In January 2016 he was named as captain and scored the winning goal for England as they defeated France 5-4 in a dramatic EuroHockey Indoor Championship II encounter.

As well as an eye for goal, he also has an eye for business - appearing on the BBC's Dragons' Den with his clothing company YoungOnes.

His family has a strong hockey tradition, with his father Andrew a housemaster at Wellington, and his brothers Ed, George and James also playing for Taunton Vale and at national level.

Crutchley said: "We’re very excited about this new group, there’s been significant change and we’re looking forward to really getting going and developing the players.

"We’ve got some key tournaments coming up this year, particularly the Hockey World League in London and the EuroHockey Championships in Holland, and while we’ll be taking something of a long lens for those events, we need to improve quickly and create a team that will stand us in good stead for the whole cycle."