Let me tell you a little about one of my hobbies.

Every year I make a book - sadly not a best-seller - but a book of photos to capture all those incredible moments that make up a year in your life.

I have a terrible memory and it is my way of documenting all the places I have been and people I have met.

I have just finished making my book of 2010 and am having a look through. If I were to sum it up I would use the words "hard work" and "bronze".

The three bronze medals we won last year - at the Champions Trophy, World Cup and Commonwealth Games - were the result of our fantastic central training programme and the hard work of the entire squad and management.

These results have given us the boost to keep going through the winter as well work on the parts of our game we need to improve on for us to achieve that ultimate goal in London.

Looking at this year we have the Champions Trophy (for the top six women's teams in the world) in Holland and the European Nations Cup in Germany. Both are very difficult tournaments but we would like to go even further than we went last year. That means silver, or one better.

Looking ahead further still, next year the London Olympics are here. I cannot believe it is only one year away.

The Olympics are important to me for two reasons.

The first is the most obvious and the reason we train every day. There is no greater honour than being a part of the squad that has an ambition to win that Olympic gold medal.

The second reason is my passion for sport and the power I believe it holds in changing young people's lives.

I am very privileged to work with students from all over the country on the Sky Sports Living For Sport Athlete Mentor Programme. This is a free initiative for all secondary schools and recognises the power that sport has to engage, motivate and inspire young people.

My mentoring role is both rewarding and often very funny.

My best moment, only last week, was being proposed to by Tim....aged 12!



I have been fortunate enough to witness first hand how sport can change young people's lives, give them continuity, a fresh start, confidence, competition, leadership, and most importantly aspirations.

So imagine the impact and legacy a home Olympic Games will have on our entire nation?

But my first challenge of the year is more immediate.

Next weekend (January 30) the Super Sixes National Indoor Hockey finals are hosted at Wembley Arena.

We - I play for Reading - had two really tough rounds of matches to get there and we were over the moon to beat Leicester, a really strong team including many of my England teammates, in the semi-final to secure our place.

I live with two of the Leicester girls so coming home together after the game was a little bit quiet, but I think we are all friends again now.

The finals will be brilliant. Having not played much indoor hockey before this year, I have come to love how quick and exciting it is and how in two minutes the tide can change.

We also heard yesterday that tickets are selling really quickly and it promises an amazing atmosphere. Hopefully I'll see you all there with my orange (Leicester) housemates cheering on the [Reading] blues.

For more information about the National Indoor Hockey Finals click here.

Alex Danson is GB Hockey's star striker, who recently scored 16 goals in one weekend