THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY
THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY
SPORT
HOCKEY JUSTIN KING
T his season has ended with the Coronavirus pandemic causing uncertainty and cancellations to a number of fixtures, and school closing at the end of March. his is something not seen in our lifetime, and hopefully something that we will not have to go through again. That said, we have been fortunate enough to have had an excellent year, with large numbers of boys playing and enjoying the game on a weekly basis. This could not happen without a small group of dedicated staff who have given their time during the week and most Saturdays. Junior School Hockey has been run by Richard Oubridge this year, and he has had an excellent group of staff helping him run a very good co-curricular programme, with weekly matches plus a training session for the boys not involved. We have had mixed success, but to see the joy and enthusiasm from boys and parents alike has been excellent. I look forward to seeing these boys come through and feed into the Lower School Hockey programme and beyond. Weekly co-curricular sessions have seen good attendance from the Year 7 boys, and those who took advantage of and engaged with these sessions have seen their play improve noticeably. There are some talented boys in this group, and we hope that we will have the chance to work with them again next year if they choose to play. In Year 8, boys from the F team rugby and below were offered the chance to play hockey from the Michaelmas half-term. These boys really engaged and improved each session, and 37 of them then chose Hockey as their option in the Lent term. These lessons proved to be some of the most enjoyable of the year, with boys getting out early and playing with smiles on their faces. Results improved throughout the term, and I am looking forward to many of them playing again next year. The Year 9s struggled to get numbers out on a regular basis, but a mixed group played most weekends, and their improvement was pleasing to watch. Francis McCabe, who
had not played hockey previously, was our man of the match in the last game. We will need to look after these boys, and I hope that a few of them decide to play again next year. We have a talented Year 10 group who engage in club hockey on a weekly basis, and six of them – Oliver Monblat, Thomas Stubbs, Finbar Percy, Joe Prince, Thomas Wade and Lucas Cunningham – have been involved in Surrey squads. Their technical ability is excellent, and as a few of them get stronger they will mature into very good hockey players. I am hoping several will be pushing for 1st team places next year; their approach to training and matches shows that dedication and hard work pay off. Four groups from Years 11 to 13 take part in regular mixed training sessions of around 25–30 boys, sometimes training together and sometimes apart. This allows the boys to develop and see what is required to play for the 1st team. Our 1st team had an excellent season, losing a very tight last-16 game of the National Cup. Our Saturday fixture card also saw us end with only one defeat. There are some truly outstanding hockey players in the team, plus several very good all-round sportsmen. We have demanded high standards from this group, and this has allowed us to play some entertaining hockey. It has been a huge pleasure to coach these boys. Our 2nd to 4th teams have enjoyed the season, and it is encouraging and pleasing to see so many of them getting stuck in on a Saturday and playing in the right manner. Finally, I would like to extend a massive thank you to the Year 13s for their commitment over the years; I do hope they continue to play and to enjoy the game in the future.
T H E I R T E C H N I C A L A B I L I T Y I S E X C E L L E N T , A N D A S A F E W O F T H E M G E T S T R O N G E R T H E Y W I L L M A T U R E I N T O V E R Y G O O D H O C K E Y P L A Y E R S
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