GB Hockey Star Quality

Members of the girls' hockey squad were honoured to have a training session led by international hockey player Amy Costello last week. Amy joined the girls at Reading Hockey Club for their Wednesday games afternoon and introduced them to some of the drills that she does at her own GB training sessions.

Head of Hockey Mr Walter said of the visit: "Amy ran an engaging and enjoyable session for the squad. As well as developing their skills during a variety of exercises, Amy was happy to give students some individual advice and also inspired them with a few of her own stick skills! To see all of the students benefiting from Amy's expertise was fantastic and we hope that they have taken away some valuable guidance for the future. It was a pleasure to meet Amy and we wish her all the best for the upcoming international fixtures."

Miss Mordue, Head of Girls' Games, adds: "It was fantastic to have Amy Costello coaching the hockey girls and seeing them inspired by a young elite female athlete. The girls really got stuck into the session, working on their possession and passing skills in hockey."

E Hodson, Captain of Hockey, Year 13:  "Amy Costello's training session was very useful for our team and we learnt many new skills and improved out fitness while having fun. It was very inspiring being trained and receiving advice from such a successful GB athlete."

H Austin in Year 13, said "The session was very enriching for the hockey players. It gave us new ideas as a team as well as working on some more individual elements. We learnt drills and skills that we can translate into our own play on and off the match pitch."

Amy then headed back to the College to give a talk to the girls and all sports scholars. She spoke of her journey from playing junior hockey to her first international debut for Scotland when she was still at school in January 2016. Amy, who is 21 and one of the youngest in the GB squad, made her GB debut in January 2018 and is currently on a break from studying Sports Science at Birmingham University as she sets her sights on helping the team qualify for Tokyo 2020. Amy also talked through a normal week's intensive routine of fitness and on-pitch training, what it's like to balance her commitments to club, Scotland and GB hockey, and having set-backs through injury.

The talk was followed by questions from the audience and it was wonderful to see almost every pupil raise their hand. The pupils learned about the nutrition and mental health support provided to Amy and the team, the advantages and difficulties of balancing being a university student and an elite sportswomen, the off-pitch analysis and tracking of individual GPS and fitness testing involved, and the amount and types of strength and conditioning training she endures each week (including the 'suffer and buffer' session!).

Miss Mordue said "Amy's talk was really informative and the students asked great questions about her work schedule, health and time management and her hockey career. Feedback from the girls in particular has been brilliant and they were really buzzing and motivated this week during sport and looking forward to the rest of the league fixtures this term. I wish Amy and her team all the best of luck for their upcoming games."

Hockey coach Mrs Bayley also commented: "It was great to see the girls so engaged in Amy's talk about being in elite sport. They were interested to hear how she worked with her sports psychologist for match preparation, especially when her game needed a boost. They were fascinated by how Amy managed her busy schedule and encouraged to hear how much the squad value good mental wellbeing. I believe some of them have now gone on to purchase tickets to watch the qualifiers for Tokyo 2020 against Chile in half-term, at the Olympic Park."

Girls' Sport Captain, M Simpson, spoke very highly of the afternoon: "I thought the training session that we had with Amy Costello was extremely beneficial to working on our technique and our ability to work as a team; we were worked hard and I thought that all the girls came away from the session feeling good about themselves and more confident in pushing themselves more to keep up with the speed of match play. All in all, I think the team and myself would love to experience it all again."

Watch a highlights reel of the afternoon below: