England youth international volleyball player Maxime Carolan has been invited to a top training centre in France.

Carolan, 15, a pupil at Gravesend Grammar School, is off to Montpellier on July 16 to work with renowned beach volleyball coach Mathieu Hamel.

He’ll spend a week with Hamel and intends to make the most of the opportunity to further enhance his growing reputation, playing with the best young players in France.

“I’m very excited,” said 6ft4in Carolan, who has made rapid progress since taking up the sport three years ago.

“It’s an amazing achievement because it’s such a high-level training centre.

“They only have 13 players - seven girls and six boys - and they’re kind of the future of volleyball in France, which is such a powerhouse in volleyball.

“I’ll be there for a week and if we’re looking at the long-term, building connections is really useful in volleyball, and sport in general. I feel like it will open my eyes.

“I’ve played international volleyball before but this is really high-level international volleyball and just being there for a week, I feel like I’m going to improve and take things on board.

“It’s quite surreal to get where I have and, to be honest, it’s all about hard work and being coachable.

“The problem with a lot of young players, talking about sport in general, is they’re hard to coach.

“But if you’re coachable and you take things on board and apply that to your game, that will help make you a successful player.

”To be recognised by coaches with quite high status, like Mathieu, is very good because it shows you you’re doing the right thing.”

Carolan, who also plays indoor volleyball, is a wise head on young shoulders.

This summer he was presented with a community and civic award in recognition of, not only his sporting achievements, but also his work to promote mental health awareness.

It’s a cause he feels passionately about - raising money for the Sport in Mind charity at a black-tie ball last year - and he will continue to do all he can alongside his sporting commitments.

Carolan said: “It comes from seeing people around me struggling - family members, friends, and I feel like it’s something which is really important.

“It is starting to get talked about more but it’s something that’s very different and fragile for everyone.

“I feel like sport, it’s not going to work for everyone, but for the majority of people, it will help, which is why I like to help on that side of things.

“To be successful in life, it’s about the impact you make on other people.

“My community have helped me as well, which I’m very appreciative for, so I want to take some of that love and spread it around.”

Education also remains a big part of Carolan’s life.

The GCSE student knows the importance of a good grounding, regardless of where volleyball takes him.

He said: “You have to get the education as well.

“That comes first as an athlete because you could be really good but without that education you’re not going to be taken in to some of these top programmes, so it’s just about finding that balance where you can do your work and then train.

“I normally do my work in the car, because I’m in the car for quite a long period of time, and I just try and balance everything.

“Plan A is to go and play volleyball and have a good career, which lasts 10-15 years, maybe more, depending on how my body handles it.

“But I want to keep my education and then if volleyball doesn’t work, or when my career ends, I can go and do something else I enjoy.”