Gavin Watt can never be accused of resting on his laurels. After helping City of Edinburgh to win their first Scottish League title last season, he broadened his horizons.

The Scotland international setter, with the help of then-Edinburgh team-mate and French national Remy Sicsic, decided to up sticks and head for France last August.

The 22 year-old had sent his CV off to a number of French clubs and was eventually picked up by Amiens Metropole, who play in the French second division.

Watt has never been short of ambition and headed to Russia with Edinburgh team-mate Colin Macnab to play in the European Under-23 Beach Championships after the pair raised funds themselves. 

Though the pair went out in the opening rounds, it did not stop them from setting their sights high indoors. Both players are now on full-time volleyball contracts in France with Macnab having secured a deal with Cannes.

Neither is making a fortune but the chance to train and play full-time has helped improve their game considerably and who knows where they will end up?

"Remy translated my volleyball CV and sent it to many clubs in France. After that was done, it was just a waiting game for me. In May, I got a trial for a team not far from where I am now," Watt, 22, explains.

"The trial was a week of training with them. It was ideal - eating, sleeping and volleyball. This was the life I now wanted. Later in the summer I received an offer that I finally chose to accept from Amiens Metropole.

"The standard was high and the training was hard. Pre-season training lasted a long six weeks with friendly tournaments in Amiens, Paris and Rouen. My life as a pro athlete was beginning and I loved it."

Now, well into the league season, Amiens are pushing strongly for promotion having won ten of their first 11 matches and it looks like a four-way battle between themselves, Epinal, Saint Quentin and Halluin.

"This makes the league pretty exciting and every match very important. Hopefully we can keep focussed in our matches for the remainder of the season and we can be the team getting promoted to National One!" he continues.

"I'm fitting in well, really enjoying my time here. I'm getting the chance to train twice a day most days, and train with players who have a lot of experience and have played at the highest level.

"This is hopefully going to help me become a better player. The team are a good bunch of guys. They are very positive and work hard as they want the team to progress. This helps me because I am a very competitive person and I always want to work hard to improve my volleyball, so yes I'm happy to be here and glad I fit into the team environment well.

"For me to get a contract as a professional volleyball player is a dream come true. So every day getting to live my dream is a highlight. Obviously, there are times when things get frustrating but by having clear goals in my head of where I want to be in four to five years time with my volleyball, I'm just focussing on getting there and working as hard as I can to do it."

Watt does not see himself coming back to Scotland in the near future. He is keen to take his game to as high a level as possible and is looking at climbing the ladder in France.

Mark McGivern, another former City of Edinburgh player, is currently playing with Avignon at Pro B level having seen his game take off since he joined the Great Britain programme under head coach Harry Brokking.

Watt knows that making next year's Olympic Games in London is beyond him but he is ambitious to play at the highest level he can.

"My long-term target is to play at the Pro A volleyball. This is my goal and this is what I want to achieve before I finish my volleyball career," he stresses.

"I want to stay in France for the next few years I think, however you never know if another club would like your services and give you the opportunity to play at a higher level.

"For next season, I'm still not sure what team I will be playing for - I'm just focussing on the present. I will start to address that in March or April."

RM

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