A GLOBAL hockey star who first picked up a stick at Monmouth Comprehensive School has lifted the lid on combining playing around the world with a career in finance.

Showing the power of sport to change and empower lives, Jacob Draper had never played hockey until a PE teacher at his new school offered the then 11-year-old the chance to play.

He was hooked, and now after two Olympics with GB, helping Wales to qualify for the World Cup for the first time, European honours with the Dutch professional team he now captains, and playing in the Indian Hockey League, the 27-year-old is one of the world’s top players.

And it all started when the Pontypool-raised player's mum Jo worked in Monmouth and sent him to school here.

Jacob played football with Cardiff City, but the PE teacher ran boys' hockey, said ‘we’re down a player’ and gave him a hockey stick.

“He came home and said ‘I played hockey today,” said Jo. “I fancy finding a club’. I said ‘OK’ and spoke to someone who played at Gwent Hockey in Cwmbran.

"He started playing alongside football. Soon enough hockey took over.”

And having gone on to global acclaim in the game, Jacob told Indian media site Sportstar about how he now balances sport with a part-time career in investment.

“From Monday to Wednesday, I’m in the UK for GB training. On Wednesday evening, I fly to Amsterdam. It’s not a long flight, like 40 minutes, so it’s not too bad,” he says.

“Then, I train on Thursday and Friday, and play for Pinoke at the weekend before flying back to London. And I work every day around hockey.

"I feel a bit more refreshed when I get back on the hockey field. On my days off, I’ll spend a full day working,” he says.

“I always loved economics, how money works. My parents strongly wanted me to go to university, and after graduating, I started pursuing hockey full-time.

"But I’m somebody who needs to be entertained or stay busy... It’s essentially a finance brokerage for companies, or individuals who do financing. I’ve been doing that for six years. I love it,” Jacob told Sportstar.

And while he could have gone down the football route as a youngster, he added: “For me, I think specialising young is a little bit harmful... when you’re a child, there’s a huge benefit in trying everything. You develop different skills, getting much more exposure playing different sports.

“I wasn’t a bad footballer, but I got to a point where football was quite high-pressure.

"I fell out of love with the game a bit and turned my outlook to hockey.

"It resembled a lot of football. I was kicking the ball a lot and it wasn’t great, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ten or 12 years later, here I am,” he says.

Now with 63 GB caps and quarter-final appearances at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics, including an agonising shootout loss to India in 2024, Jacob is targeting a medal at LA 2028

“International hockey now is so close. Any team on their day can beat anyone. I’m a big believer in everything happening for a reason, so I look now towards LA 2028. I look at the squad we’ve got and go with the same goal of winning a medal."