High school student Alex Davies has covered over 1,400 laps of a rink on his roller hockey skates to help pay for his England training programme.

Alex, 15, a student at Lynn Grove High School, was invited to go to Portugal with the England roller hockey team later this month to continue his preparation for the under-17 European schoolboys championships next August.

He faced raisng funds for the kit he needs and to help towards travelling costs. He calculated the distance from great Yarmouth to Feira, Portugal was 1,404 miles and translated that into laps of the Yarmouth Retroskate rink.

Last Wednesday, between 10am and 5pm Alex completed his sponsored endurance skate in six hours 56 minutes, raising �700, which means he will be able to contribute to his England training camp in Cambridge in December.

His mother, Michaela Davies, said Alex attracted a lot of attention and support as he weaved in and out of the skaters at Retroskate for the public session.

“It was an amazing success and has inspired other children to host fundraising events to help with their sporting commitments.”

She praised Alex for getting the event up and running. “He did so much organising whilst balancing his training and GCSEs. His training is going well and he will hear in January if he has made selection for the reduced squad to represent England Roller Hockey in Geneva, Switzerland in 2011.”

Alex started training at Retroskate and that is where the England coach spotted his talent. He was invited to attend national training in Peterborough each month and now plays competitively for Norwich City Roller Hockey Club.

Alex thanked Retroskate for their sponsorship and for hosting the event, especially Callum and Jason; Hairbase Unisex Hairsalon for their sponsorship; family and friends;and his teachers at Lynn Grove High for being supportive during his GCSEs as he had to have a week off school.