During half term, pupils from the 1st XI hockey team travelled to Amsterdam to enjoy an action-packed hockey tour, heading to different schools and playing matches against international opponents. Master in charge of hockey Mr Tom Walter offers the following report from a busy trip:
‘We met at the College early on Saturday morning ready to depart to Holland and were relieved to have a smooth trip to our hotel in Noordwijk, on the outskirts of Amsterdam. After settling in and having some dinner, Director of Sport Mr James Gaunt suggested that we got some rest after a long day of travelling as there was a busy schedule of hockey ahead.
The following morning, we headed to HC Pinoke for a masterclass training session, to which we had all been looking forward. Dutch International Dider Meijer led the session, teaching us a range of amazing fancy tricks and flicks. Will Gresswell got the hang of these particularly quickly, whilst others of us took much longer and some were just left confused! However, we were all certainly left inspired by the session. Unfortunately, the first fixture of the trip was moved to Tuesday evening so we made the most of the lunch provided at the hockey club and headed to Duinrell, where we visited the indoor water park. One member of the group, Jonny Meadows, had a particularly memorable trip the water park, struggling with the simple locker system to begin with and then managing to leave his hockey stick behind afterwards. Needless to say, a hockey stick is a fairly important item on hockey tour but luckily Jonny remembered to run back and grab it just as we were boarding the coach to return to the hotel!
Our third day dawned cold and frosty. We made our way into Amsterdam for a canal boat tour of the city, learning about ship boats, boat ships and boats that look like ships but are actually houses. We also learnt a little about Rembrandt, Anne Frank, the Dutch lifestyle and some of us even had time to sample pancakes, leaving us all feeling very cultured. With that box ticked, we jumped back on the coach and headed to Rotterdam for our first fixture of the tour. The facilities were incredible – not only did they have multiple pitches, they even had stands for spectators. We were playing just behind the main pitch, but a crowd of local spectators and Mr Emmanuel watched on anyway. The game was well matched and after Jack Tooley managed to save a penalty flick at 0-0 in the second half, we went on to dominate, with Dan Deakin, Orla Brown and Harry Emmanuel all impressing. Although Dom Allen missed one very open goal, he later redeemed himself by scoring the opener. Jonny Meadows grabbed the other and made sure we were all reminded about his goal for the rest of the evening.
Tuesday also started very cold, and after a bit of free time in the local town, we made our way to the Ajax Arena via a shopping centre. The tour included going into the dressing rooms and getting pitch side, as well as learning about some of the mind games Ajax like to play on their opposition such as only the home dugout having heated seats! After the tour, we headed to HC Overbos for our final fixtures, and were made to feel very welcome in the clubhouse. The game started well for us and we held control for most of the match, with Will Gresswell looking sharp and James Smith causing the defence some problems. Special mention should go to Emily Wilkinson, who played fantastically on her Shiplake Hockey Club debut. The game ended in a 3-1 win with goals from Dom Allen, Tim Herbert and Alex Gray but thankfully none from Jonny Meadows. Due to the pitches freezing over, we were unable to play the second fixture, but we warmed up with a hot chocolate in the club house which made sure we finished the tour on a high.'
Congratulations to the pupils who won awards on the tour:
Jacob Bowley - ‘Team Player’ for his overall contribution to the tour, including looking out for and entertaining his team mates.
Freddie Bowcock - ‘Most Improved’ for his impressive performances on the pitch
Orla Brown – ‘Toughest Tourist’ for playing the majority of the tour with an injury, and even picking up some fresh ones
Jonny Meadows – ‘All Rounder’ for great performances in numerous different positions on the pitch
Tim Herbert – ‘Player of the Tour’ as voted for by the team for his match winning performances.
