Sportscotland has earmarked grants totalling £645,000 to develop the sport of hockey across Scotland.

The funding, of which £432,384 is from the sportscotland Lottery Fund, will support the development of the sport at every level and is aimed at increasing participation and improving performance.

At the performance end of the player pathway the focus is on the Beijing Olympics and Scotland has seven players still in contention for places in the British Olympic team.

Scottish sport minister Stewart Maxwell said: “The Scottish Government is committed to increasing participation in sport and making the country more active.

“Hockey is a popular sport among our young people with over 30,000 taking part each week. This investment in Scottish Hockey will be used to build on this and sustain participation and help improve the performance of our sports men and women who I hope will be successful at the Beijing Olympics.”

Brent Deans, chief executive Officer of Scottish Hockey, added: “Support received from sportscotland is a significant contribution to the overall development of hockey in Scotland.

“We look forward to continuing our partnership with sportscotland to prepare hockey players from grassroots level all the way up to top class competition such as London 2012 or Glasgow 2014.”