Gavin Byers

Read on to find out a bit more on Gavin and his hockey career:

Q How did you first become involved in your sport? I first became involved in Hockey through my dad. He played so I was always at a hockey pitch watching him play.

Q How old were you when you started and what is your first memory of your sport? I first started playing proper hockey when I was about 8. My first memory was when I won a hockey stick at a youth tournament for being one of the best players. Awesome!

Q When did you first realize you had the potential to make it as an athlete? I just used to play for fun and when I was selected for Scotland Under 16s, that was when I realised I had potential to go further in hockey.

Q What are your best results so far? My best results have to be when I won the Celtic Cup and the European Junior trophy with the Under 21s in 2006. I scored 7 goals in the 8 games played.

Q What has been the highlight of your career? The highlight was scoring a goal in the final to help win the gold .

Q What has been your favourite competition venue to date and why? My Favourite venue has to be Sydney Olympic Park where I played for GB Junior team in the Australian Youth Olympic Festival.

Q What is on your competition schedule this year? This Year I hope to make the Senior Mens team and play in the Celtic Cup, European trophy and a World Cup qualifying tournament.

Q How many hours do you spend training each day? I train roughly 2-3 hours a day.

Q Technique or physical - which do you spend most time working on to improve? I would probably have to say Technique as I spend a lot of hours on the pitch repeating the same exercise over and over. It’s the best way!

Q Have you had to overcome any major challenges (injury, illness or other) to reach your level in sport? The only injury I have had is a broken wrist, which I did at training, when I fell awkwardly; I was out for four months. It was the worst four months ever!

Q Do you feel you/your sport gets the exposure and credit it merits? Hockey is slowly gaining more exposure with the new Euro Hockey League, which gets a lot of TV coverage, but there could always be more.