I've swapped my notepad for a keyboard and am gunning for a medal in the Commonwealth Esports Championships

This week I've been sat at my desk working a full-time job in Greater Manchester but in a few day's time, I could find myself vying for a medal to prove I’m one of the best competitors in the Commonwealth.

It all sounds a bit surreal, especially for someone like me, I'm usually interviewing people about the incredible things they've achieved - not the one being given the opportunity to achieve greatness myself. My life revolves around a full-time job, a mortgage, planning a wedding - all very adult and responsible things that I'm leaving at home whilst I take a week off work to play video games for my country.

On Monday I’m heading off to one of Nottingham’s student accommodation blocks to join the rest of my team for the Commonwealth Esports Championships, the inaugural competition that gives the best players from Commonwealth countries to go head-to-head with each other in three different titles. The games include Rocket League, essentially football played with miniature cars, eFootball, also known as Pro Evolution Soccer - a football simulation game similar to Fifa - and Dota 2, a multiplayer online battle arena game which I'll be competing in.

READ MORE: 'Players threaten to rape and kill me. It won't keep me from the sport I love'

I know the most about Dota, having only dallied in the other two titles, with over 4,000 matches played since I started in 2016. Each game takes an average of 40 minutes, with additional drafting time available to pick five heroes for each team from a pool of 123, and ban out heroes you don’t want to play against.

The 5v5 game has a deceptively simple win condition - destroy your opponent's base building before they can destroy yours. But protective towers that can attack players, a