With the 2012 Olympics just six years away, CORINNE McPARTLAND finds out how two brothers hope to be representing Team GB at beach volleyball.

LUKE and Jake Sheaf started playing beach volleyball at an early age while watching their mum, Mandy, compete in tournaments.

The Dartford Grammar School pupils say volleyball has always been a big influence on their lives.

Eighteen-year-old Luke said: "My mum played volleyball for England for years and we travelled all over the place watching her.

"We spent a year living in Australia when I was six and Jake was about four. This was when we started to get the volleyball bug."

The pair from Saddlers Park, Eynsford, started to play volleyball more seriously four years ago when they joined the England Cadets.

The cadets focus on indoor volleyball and the pair travel to Oxford to take part in training camps every three weeks.

Indoor volleyball is made up of six-a-side and follows the same basic rules as beach volleyball, which is made up of teams of two.

Luke said: "We got to travel to so many places to play at a national level.

"It was cool. We got to go to Sweden, Belgium and Estonia playing the game.

"When you go to these tournaments you realise how high the standard is. In some places volleyball is taken as seriously as football is in our country."

Luke says he and his brother were getting better at the sport but the lifestyle of beach volleyball was calling to them.

He said: "It is harder to practice than indoor volleyball because you need a beach and you don't find many of those in Dartford. We try to get to Sandbank beach in Poole as much as we can."

The brothers, who have a sandpit in their garden to help them practice, say they would love to be able to jump on a bus and go to Central Park to practice on a sand court whenever they wanted.

Luke added: "We played in a tournament at the Dartford festival and there was sand pitch set up for the day.

"Loads of kids watched us and I think they would really get into it if they had a place to practice all the time."

Luke was seen by a scout from the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) and offered the chance to be sponsored and coached by past Olympic beach volleyball player Amanda Glover (checking).

Although Jake, 16, has not been sponsored by TASS yet, he has had coaching through the scheme.

Jake said: "When Luke and I play together we know each other's every move so well - it's weird.

"We have a connection which helps us to know if one of us going to make a mistake.

"If we do make a mistake we know exactly what to do to correct it."

The brothers will be parting for two years while Jake builds up his physical strength to play with Luke professionally.

Luke hopes to go on to play in the European Championship Tour in March next year.

He will play with another partner for a couple of years until Jake has reached his peak fitness. He is Jody Gooding, 26, from Bournemouth.

Jake said: "Our main aim is to play beach volleyball in the Olympics."

Mum Mandy, a fitness instructor, says she is so proud of what her two sons have achieved.

The 43-year-old said: "Seeing my two boys playing side-by-side at the Olympics would be a dream come true."