Ben Bowns overcomes anxiety to become Britain's top Ice hockey goaltender

The Swinton athlete finished last season as a national hero in the sport. He was selected best goaltender of the World Championship tournament as Great Britain earned promotion back to the top flight.

Bowns (32) said it had been an extra special moment, in the final qualifying game at Nottingham Arena, to know that his family and pals from his schooldays in Rotherham were in the stands to witness the triumph.

But the netminder, who was brought up in the Sheffield junior system and turned professional 11 years ago, has disclosed how he had to overcome difficult personal issues.

"The biggest change I made was probably in the last half a year or so when I started using few more verbal keys out loud; kind of talking to myself," he recalled. "It seems a little bit crazy — I have never really spoken about it openly like this — but I did struggle with a kind of anxiety in the game for the last three or four years."

He explained that the EIHL division was set up in such a way that every league match was vital and that life playing for his team, Cardiff Devils, was like performing in a pressure cooker.

“When a team loses, a goalie frequently bears the blame in the press and on social media,” he said. "I realised I was struggling and got some help," he said, so he came up with the idea of using verbal keys.

His new technique aided him in May, when victory in Nottingham guided Britain back to the top division.