It is the stuff dreams are made of for one Glaswegian hockey player. Rory Kerr, a 20-year-old from Glasgow's West End has been training with the Australian men's hockey squad as they undergo their preparations to defend their Commonwealth Games title in the Scottish city. The goalkeeper, who plays for local club Hillhead Hockey Club, was asked to join the squad as a second goalkeeper and has been part of all the training sessions
The unusual opportunity came because the squads are only allowed to bring 16 players – in other tournaments teams can usually bring squads of 18 – so the Kookaburras decided to bring just one 'keeper. Australia co-coach Graham Reid explained: "We needed someone to take the pressure off our goalkeeper while we were training, so we asked around clubs in Glasgow, Rory was recommended."
Rory has played with the U21 Scotland side, and is due to move to Melbourne to play in the Australia domestic league next year, so this opportunity was a great introduction to the Aussie style of play. He said; "The guys are world champions for a reason. The just train so hard and so quickly. In my head I've been able to match them but in the body sense it has been hard."
