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THE ALLEYNIAN 710
HOCKEY
JUSTIN KING
It was great to have a full calendar of hockey back on during the Lent term. It allowed many pupils the chance to access a sport they had previously not played and enabled those who had missed out last year to get back into the swing of things. The Junior School had a great season, with matches being played from Year 4 through to Year 6. The Year 5 A team did brilliantly to win the London Schools Cup, and the Year 6 A team finished second, which was a positive experience for them and also an encouragement to all our teams as they progress through the College. A massive thank you must go to Mr Oubridge for his dedication and hard work with these groups throughout the year. Our Year 7 and Year 8 teams played their first matches for the College, enjoying the challenge. The Year 7s played hockey as a co-curricular sport, and several of them made excellent progress during the year. The Year 8 group also made progress and enjoyed the fixtures. With four Year 8 teams out on a weekly basis, it was pleasing to see pupils who had not previously represented the College at sport fully enthused and engaged with the Saturday ritual of fixtures, together with the friendships that were formed. We look forward to them continuing to play and enjoy hockey. There were large numbers in the Year 9 and Year 10 groups, and this allowed us to put out A and B teams in each year group every week. We even played an U14C game for the first time in my 16 years at the College! Results might have been a little disappointing, but this didn’t deter the teams from getting out each week, maintaining effort and enthusiasm and showing pleasing progress. Several boys are looking to join clubs and access the game outside of school, which is a real positive. I look forward to welcoming
the Year 10s into the senior teams next year, and a few of them will be pushing for a 1st team spot. The senior groups struggled, and this was partly due to pupils not having been engaged last year, and having opted out of playing. It was very disappointing, and we must make sure that moving forward, we engage and encourage them to play, both for their physical and mental wellbeing and for the pride they will feel in representing the College. We did put out three teams and, again, progress was made during the year, but not quickly enough. I wish all the leavers the best and encourage them to play and engage in hockey, or another sport, as they leave the College. A massive positive has been the number of pupils playing for and engaging with club and county hockey during the year. It has allowed them to progress
along pathways to representative teams and to gain success at national level with their clubs. A number of boys who have not previously played at clubs have also taken the step to play outside of school, and this can only benefit them and us. I would like to thank all the hockey staff for their enthusiasm and energy in engaging with the pupils and encouraging them week in week out. Without them, the hockey programme would not run. I would also like to wish Steve Kelly well as he takes on running hockey after my 12 years in charge. I know he will continue to drive hockey forward and keep on improving the provision and quality.
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