When Tokyo Olympic debutant Phil Roper was superbly teeing up Jack Waller for Team GB’s third goal in their opening win in Tokyo, he could well have been thinking of his dad.
Roper’s father Keith was an international hockey umpire when his son was growing up, a player who nearly made it to an Olympics himself, and the inspiration he provided the 29-year-old has fuelled the forward’s own Games push.
“We definitely have had a few fallings-out over the years with the umpires but my dad’s been an inspiration to me. He showed me the Olympics,” Roper said.
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