Gavin started his sporting career as an apprentice professional footballer at Chelsea FC, then graduated from both Durham and Oxford Universities. After a period with Millfield School as a tutor, he turned professional as a coach having played 10 years with all England teams including as Captain of the seniors.

He is perhaps most well known as a head coach of international teams taking the national teams of England, the USA and South Africa to World Cups and Olympic Games.

He formed his own sports consultancy for synthetic turf, coaching aids and video technologies for teachers, coaches and national associations in all five continents.

Gavin also produced numerous DVDs, endorsed by the International Hockey Federation, which have been distributed to more than 25 countries to teach strategies and principles of field hockey.

Then retiring from active coaching, he found a new talent in penning books as an author.

Since 2015 he has published five stimulating books based on his own global experiences, four on hockey and even one branching out to write a novel.