TRAVELLING is a big part of playing ice hockey but it is always worth the commitment.

At the moment, I live in a village called Seaton Sluice, just up from Whitley Bay, which is half-an-hour from Newcastle and 300 miles from the Link Centre. In a standard week, I work in retail on Monday afternoons as well as Tuesdays and Wednesdays for a company called USA Sports at home. Then on a Thursday afternoon I fly down to Bristol from Newcastle, where I get picked up by Aaron Nell at the airport.

He takes me back to Swindon, I train that night and stay over, then train again on Friday before playing the games at the weekend.

Then I fly back on a Monday morning at around 4am - it’s a lot, but I think it is worth doing.

This is the first time I have travelled like this for hockey. Over the last few years, I have lived near where I’ve played but with the league changes this year, it wasn’t feasible.

I have a partner up in Newcastle as well and she is very understanding with it all because obviously we don’t get to see each other every day and she works in the North East too.

The only way this has been doable is by flying down every week. It’s not too bad flying down because it only takes 45 minutes but you do hang around the airport for an hour or so.

It probably would have worked out better for me, personally, if we played our home games on the Sunday, that way I would get home a bit earlier - but it’s not too bad.

Last week I also got given a car to use by one of the club’s sponsors to use when I here in Swindon so that I can get to the Link and to the gym.

I’m jealous because it is better than my actual car.

That was really good of the sponsors and it was a lot nicer than what I was expecting, so that was a little bonus.

I think it says a lot about the club by the way they have been able to accommodate me, Aaron has found a way that works for both parties and is feasible.

When I came down in the summer I didn’t think there would be a way for it to work and the club have really gone out of their way to make it work.

They’ve gone above and beyond to accommodate me like that, so I am really grateful.