KENT hockey player Ashley Jackson jetted out to China this week to begin the serious preparations for the Beijing Olympics which begin early next month.

The 20-year-old from Kings Hill, West Malling, is the youngest member of the 16-man Great Britain hockey squad for the Games.

After training camps at Bisham Abbey and in Belgium, the squad flew out to the Chinese coastal city of Macau on Wednesday to begin acclimatising and preparing for the start of the competition.

Ashley – who describes himself as a midfield playmaker but who can also play at centre- half or up front – will then join his British team-mates for the opening ceremony in Beijing and will be based in the Olympic Village throughout the tournament.

He will use email and occasional phone calls to keep in touch with his family and long-term girlfriend who will be watching the team’s progress from the UK.

His fan-club will be led by mum and dad Steven and Barbara and his 19-year-old brother, Wesley.

Ashley credits his father for driving him on to success in sport, but it was his grandfather and uncle who provided the early influence for ice-hockey – a sport which Ashley played in Medway until the age of 10.

He only took up hockey when he joined Sutton Valence School and was taken to his local club in Tunbridge Wells to prepare himself for the school lessons, a move which sparked a meteoric rise in the sport.

Jackson quickly made an impact at Wells and after reaching the club’s first team by the age of 14 he moved on to East Grinstead where he has spent a successful five years in the National League Premier Division.

He made his England debut against Holland in November 2006, before going on to play in his first senior international tournament at the EuroHockey Nations Championships in Manchester a year ago.

He made his GB bow as part of the youth side which won silver at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival, and then making a second senior debut against the Netherlands.

Jackson was also a member of the GB squad that qualified for the Olympics by beating India in Chile earlier this year.

The Olympics will mark the end of one period in Jackson’s career and the start of a new one as he is moving to Holland two weeks after the tournament to play professionally for Dutch side HGC based near The Hague.

He said: “I am looking forward to it. There are a couple of other Brits playing out there which will help.”

Click here for an indepth interview with Ashley Jackson on the Kent Messenger website