Hockey
L ike all schools, we had a frustrating year when it came to not just hockey but all sports across the College. From the initial moment that the school was forced to close for the whole Summer Term 2020, it was clear that our hockey program was going to look very different in the months ahead. However, the College and Sports Department were able to adapt with the ever changing rules that the relevant governing bodies imposed. At the end of the Summer Term 2020 we were able to introduce small group sessions for up to six athletes. This extended in to the summer holidays which provided an excellent foundation for what we thought may be a hopefully busy Michaelmas Term 2020. Once the Michaelmas Term started there was optimism that even though it was unlikely to be a “normal” hockey year, that there would at least be some amount of matches played across the season. This however was short lived as it soon became clear that we were going to have to adapt the program in a way never before seen at St Lawrence College. This was a challenge that myself and all the coaching staff were more than ready to meet head on. The first adaptation was that we needed to ensure our pupils were safe. This was achieved by regular sanitizing and the implementation of distancing and that there was a limited amount of sharing kit between players. Once we had ensured the players’
safety, we could start to focus on the hockey program itself.
provided an extra level of competition that was not only enjoyable but also provided the competition that is so crucial to player development. In addition to this, we wanted to keep everything in place that we had developed over the previous years. So our Hockey Sports Excellence Program continued along with Indoor, Hockey Academy and the Junior Development Program. Indoor St Lawrence College has a proud history when it comes to indoor hockey, with two national titles and several appearances in
Every team across the whole school was able to maintain a plethora of high intensity/high quality sessions. With the lack of matches, one of the main areas of focus was providing our players with competitive hockey. This was achieved in a variety of ways such as inter-house competition and creating leagues within year group training sessions. With three girls’ houses and four boys’ houses, the inter-house competition always gets the competitive juices flowing and this year was no different. The introduction of mini leagues within year group sessions also
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