HOCKEY sharpshooter Callum Giles passed on some hot tips to eager young players during a whistle-stop tour of the North-East.

The Great Britain Olympic Games star visited Gilesgate Sports College, in Durham, to give an intensive coaching session to hockey enthusiasts from several local schools yesterday.

He gave groups of Year Nine and Ten pupils from the sports college, formerly known as Gilesgate Comprehensive School, plus nearby Durham High School for Girls and Durham Johnston School, tips on how to improve their game.

It was just one port of call on a two-day visit to the region, which also took in Barnard Castle, Sunderland and Newcastle's Westgate Centre for Sport, where last night he trained a group of older players.

The collective, Durham Sport, arranged yesterday's sessions to promote hockey at a time when the popularity of women's football and other sports is rising rapidly.

Durham Sport's hockey co-ordinator for active sports, Lynne Dobison, said: "Callum is an excellent figure to help raise the profile of the sport.

"We're a region that is not renowned for producing senior international players and so we're trying to build up interest."

The celebrity visitor has now retired from international hockey but apart from helping to promote the game, he is also the player/coach with Oxstead Hockey club in Surrey.