The board is the senior body of Scottish Hockey. Here is an overview of the individuals sitting on the Scottish Hockey Board. Download the Scottish Hockey Board Terms of Reference for more detail on the board’s activity.

Board Minutes 

Chair: Martin Shepherdson

Martin has been a long-term member of Grange Hockey Club. In his over 35 year association with Grange he has held many roles from player, Club Captain, Club Secretary and hockey representative to the Club Board.

Currently Martin is the Honorary President of Grange men’s hockey section (a position he has held for 15 years), is Head of the Junior section, and is the 1st XI Manager (which includes 6 different EHL or EuroHockey tournaments).

In his career Martin worked in the oil industry for over 30 years, initially with Shell and latterly with Wood Mackenzie – an Edinburgh based research and consulting group. In his time as a management consultant he was involved with organisations of all sizes helping them with business decisions, from board rooms to operational teams. Martin was Operations Manager in the consulting group, which meant running a team of consultants and providing the link with an external legal team.

Now retired, much of Martin’s energy is devoted to hockey – and an occasional round of golf.

Derek Keir

With professional experience across sport and physical activity, Derek began his career in Disability Sport with Sheffield Wednesday before studying for his Post Graduate Certificate in Physical Education at the University of Bath. During this time Derek took part in a programme with UK Sport for the International Development of Excellence and Leadership in Zambia and subsequently co-founded a charity to support young sports leaders with their education in Zambia.

Professionally Derek trained as a teacher in Bath and then spent time in London with roles in school sport and club sport before starting with sportscotland as a Partnership Manager in 2013. After four years with the national agency for sport Derek took on the role of CEO for the Camanachd Association (the national governing body for Shinty).

Karin Gallacher

Karin is the Head of Information and Support at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO).  She has experience across the third sector, including as Head of People at homelessness charity Cyrenians, and at Children in Scotland, where she led the service that delivered local, national and international learning and events for the children’s sector workforce.  Prior to this she spent 12 years in Learning and Engagement at NHS Scotland, setting up learning centres and widening access to learning opportunities.

She is Chair of Scottish Hockey’s People Committee, and has a keen interest in inclusion, neurodiversity and sustainability.

Karin has been involved in hockey for 30+ years as a player and grassroots volunteer. She is currently the happy coach of FLHC’s U8 ‘yellow group’, where she is kept very active – and very grounded!

 

Gareth Tenner

Born in Northern Ireland, Gareth began his journey in Scottish Hockey at Edinburgh University learning in his first year that the umpires over here are a bit stricter than their Northern Irish counterparts.

From Edinburgh, he played with Inverleith for two years before a double hamstring tear led to six months on the side lines during which he took up a coaching role at ESM which eventually became a player coach role.

He remained at ESM for 12 years where as well as coaching and umpiring he held roles as secretary, men’s captain and Club President.

In 2018 he joined Watsonians (joining up with a number of former team mates and friendly adversaries) and has played with their 2XI in Central 1 since.

Between 2013 and 2015 he was Vice President of East District and President between 2015 and 2017 – this role also included sitting on the disciplinary panel. Gareth is currently a main board director and sits on the Audit Committee of Scottish Hockey.

Gareth is a qualified solicitor, with 15 years commercial and legal experience. He trained with and works for Dentons UK & Middle East LLP in Edinburgh who are the largest law firm in the world.

He works in commercial contracts primarily in the infrastructure and energy sectors (both conventional and renewable) which has provided a wide and varied experience across many areas of law.

When not playing/umpiring/coaching or working, he has two daughters and a new born son who keep him and his wife out of mischief.

 

Kareena Cuthbert

With over a decade of experience in the international women’s team Kaz was Scotland’s captain for the last 5 of her playing years, leading the team at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and winning gold at the 2019 Eurohockey championships II on home soil at Glasgow Green. The knowledge and international experience she has garnered provides valuable expertise in shaping the strategic direction of performance at Scottish Hockey.

As Head of High-Performance at Bowls Scotland Kaz is responsible for developing the performance pathway and ensuring continued sustainable success on the world stage. Other experiences within sport include being a member of the athlete advisory panel for Team Scotland where she contributed to enhancing the athlete experience for the 2022 Games, and attending the Games in Birmingham as a mentor on the Achieve Programme developing potential athletes and coaches on their journeys to international excellence.

 

Balvinder Sagoo

 

Balvinder is an experienced Pharmacist having worked in the community sector for more than 25 years promoting positive health outcomes for patients. He is currently the Scotland Pharmacy Manager for Boots UK with vast experience in both the retail and pharmacy business. 

 

He also represents the wider Community Pharmacy network with his role as Vice Chair for Community Pharmacy Fife and is on the Community Pharmacy Scotland Council.

 

At Boots he was Chair of the Race, Ethnicity & Cultural Heritage (REACH) business resource group working with a leadership team to create a more inclusive work place setting to support people reach their full potential.

 

At the weekend he coaches hockey to  P4/5 age group and after 25 years has returned to playing and is part of a development squad where he has the opportunity to be on the same pitch as his 13 year old son.

 

Jane Harvey

Worked in sport for 18 years following a career in management consultancy in the private sector. Former CEO Snowsport Scotland, Founding Director, and Chair The Scottish Council of Taekwondo, Director, Safeguarding & Governance Scottish Powerchair Football and Autism Football association.