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.

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.

Barry Cawte

Barry Cawte – Chief Executive Officer , Director of Scottish Hockey , Director GB Hockey

Barry joined Scottish Hockey in October 2021 from the Welsh Rugby Players Association (WRPA).

At the WRPA Barry transformed its influence and reputation across the Welsh rugby landscape. His work there has included negotiating long-term collective bargaining schemes; making the organisation more influential; building a better reputation; and establishing commercial deals for the organisation. During this time Barry also sat on the Executive Committees of the International Rugby Players Association and the Professional Players Federation. He is also a current trustee of rugby charity Second Half, helping players during times of hardship.

Barry is the first independent chair of the Tennis Wales board and since 2018 he has led a rebuild of what was a very traditional sport; reconstructed the image and governance of Tennis Wales; and re-established relationships with funders and partners.

Previously Barry worked for Greenwich Leisure Limited, which operates more than 350 public sport and leisure centres, including the London Aquatics Centre and Copper Box Arena opened for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

He also led a charitable social enterprise that saved Swansea Tennis Centre from permanent closure and instead transformed it into one of the best facilities of its kind in Wales. Cawte then worked as a consultant to the Tennis Foundation and Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to turn the fortunes of several other tennis facilities around across the UK.

Barry also held a range of other commercial roles over a 20-year career in sport and leisure, and brings considerable commercial expertise to Scottish Hockey.

 

Karin McKenny

Karin is the Senior People Manager at Cyrenians, where she heads up HR, L&D and Volunteering.  Prior to this she was at Children in Scotland, leading the service that delivered local, national and international learning and events.  She also spent 12 years in Learning and Development at NHS Scotland, setting up learning centres and expanding access to learning opportunities.  Through this work she has a keen interest in inclusion and sustainability.

As the child of a ‘hockey marriage’, it is no surprise that Karin has been involved in hockey for 30+ years, as a player, captain, coach, umpire and fundraiser. She is currently the happy coach of FLHC’s U8 ‘Meteors’, 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.

 

Jamie Carnegie

Jamie Carnegie is the Director of Hockey at St Andrews’s University and is the Scottish Representative on the British Universities and Colleges Hockey Steering Group. Jamie has previous experience working for Scottish Golf in their performance department. He has helped St Andrews increase their youth coaching programme and their performance programme. Jamie has coached within our pathway in the Regional Performance Academy and was Scottish Hockey Coach of the year in 2015.  He is currently the Midland District President and is an active player at St Andrews University and previously represented Grove Menzieshill domestically and at both the EHL and indoor European Competitions.

 

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.