A TAVISTOCK College student who took part in no sports five years ago is now playing roller hockey for England.
David Jones, 12, was selected as goalkeeper for England U13s and U15s after discovering the sport in a leaflet. David, who also plays for Plymouth U13s, said: 'Five years ago I did no sport at all and my mum's a sport development officer, who gets kids into sport. She found me a leaflet with lots of different sports and I chose to try tennis and roller hockey. I wasn't so keen on tennis but I enjoyed roller hockey.
'I got picked for Plymouth for a tournament six months in and our goalkeeper wasn't there so I played in goal and did really well. I stayed in goal and got better and better.'
David was chosen to attend England trials and qualified for the team. The England coach is Portuguese and takes the young players over to that country three times per year to compete.
'On our latest tour we played four matches and won three of them,' said David. 'We lost the first because we were tired and had just got out of the airport. It was a week long trip to develop our skills and the coach says doing this makes us more independent. On the pitch it's made me more responsible because I've got more to think about.'