Taylorian

Trips

Hockey Tour

U13 Hockey Tour to Holland

A fter a first day spent travelling and settling into our accommodation, we travelled to the Wagener stadium on day two to watch Amsterdam HC Dames play Kampong; we were even allowed to play on the pitch at half-time! We then headed down the road to Pinoke Hockey Club to watch them play HC Bloomendahl (one of the best teams in the world). It was a match full of attacking play, short corners and great skills, resulting in a 4-1 victory for Bloomendahl. After the match ended, we all invaded the pitch and rushed to receive signatures from as many of the world class players as possible. Monday began with an early start and a rain-soaked training session, after which we travelled to Ijsseloever for our first fixtures. The opposition were incredibly skilful and despite our best efforts, all three of our

Although everyone played very well, using all the skills that we had learnt during the trip, all three of our teams were beaten. However, the opportunity to play and learn from teams of such high calibre cannot be underestimated. On our return journey, Mr Middleton awarded the players of the tournament for each team: Jinyi Zhou (A Team), Raffi Shaikh (B Team) and Jack Barratt (C Team), while Richard King was awarded ‘man of the tour’ for his enthusiasm and selflessness. We came back with amazing memories; the quality of the opposition meant that we learnt so much. All the students would like to say a huge thank you to Mr Middleton for organising the tour, as well as Mr Flower, Mr Whitehurst and Mr Evans-Evans for giving up their half-term. Noah Kerr, Shay Patel, Armaan Daryanani, Saif Al-Obaydi and Iain MacMillan (U3rds)

teams were beaten. Even though we lost, we showed great spirit and energy, and it was a good learning experience. Tuesday started off brilliantly with a visit to Tikibad Waterpark; we enjoyed all the rides that were on offer. After all the fun and excitement, we boarded the coach and headed to Barendrecht, where the B and C Teams took on their second fixtures of the tour, while the A team continued their journey to Krimpen. The first team put in a magnificent performance, winning 5-1 and securing the first (and only) victory of the tour! Our final day started with a short journey to Athena Hockey Club to train with two Bloemendaal and Netherlands U21 players, Gijs and Tobias; we really enjoyed the experience of learning from elite professionals. We then travelled to Schiedam – a very strong club – for our final fixtures.

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Taylorian 2023