Dear Parent

Hockey season is now in full swing. Fixtures began in earnest in January with both local friendlies as well as an immediate launch into National cup competitions.

Our older squads (Y9 and upwards) have had the opportunity to work with Miss Caesar in the gym helping them get faster, stronger and more resilient in their Ath-Dev sessions. Goal scoring has been the order of the day with our Seniors, who have been working hard on the technical side and mentality needed to turn good build up play into goals and penalty corners. Meanwhile, our Juniors have been having fun and discovering ways to stretch their small unit play to link up with teammates and play great passing hockey.

To find out how our teams fare click here.

Coaching

This season has brought with it new recruits in the form of Nick Carr (History) and Alex McDonald-Smith (Biology). Both join us having played a high level of hockey and have already made an impact, working mainly with the Junior squads in after school training sessions and games lessons.

Having members of staff who are both willing to give up their time and bring fresh ideas from their own playing / coaching careers is hugely beneficial to the school’s hockey programme. We look forward to seeing the progress they make with their teams.

Regional Representation

Leo represented Mercia Lynx U17 at last year's Futures Cup. This is England Hockey’s yearly tournament where the best players from all regions compete to help form and support the National Age Group Programme. Leo has always worked really hard throughout his progression through the player pathway and did hugely well to get selected. It was great to see how he got on, and finish his time in the Junior Pathway on a high.

Meanwhile, Oscar and LJ (Both Y12) have been selected onto the Diploma in Sporting Excellence (DiSE) programme – a government funded scheme, delivered by England Hockey and Loughborough College, designed to support an athlete in all areas of elite hockey so that they can perform at the highest level for years to come.

Links with Clubs

RGS Hockey players are lucky to have a number of quality Junior hockey clubs in the local area if they want to play more hockey outside of school.

We have a particularly strong link with Wycombe HC, and many of our boys make up RGS teams in the week before donning the blue and orange of Wycombe on the weekend. However, we also have many who represent Marlow, Maidenhead and Amersham & Chalfont. All these clubs have a very good reputation of bringing their junior players through the ranks.

If your son is interested in joining a hockey club outside of school, please encourage him talk to his hockey coach who would be happy to point him in the right direction.

Support

We are rightfully proud of our hockey provision, but it couldn’t be done without the generous support of parents and our Friends of Hockey. In the last five years your support has enabled us to double our hockey training provision as well as introduce Squad gym sessions, enter new cup competitions and provide more opportunities for player development. 

Parental support provides the majority of hockey funding. As we look to bounce back from a period of limited fundraising and with ever-increasing fixtures and an expanded training programme, our subs for this year are £100. This represents just over £8 per week during the hockey season and will help to ensure that our provision remains high. Our aim is to ensure there are no barriers to participation, having more boys playing and enjoying their hockey at RGS means an increase in the amount of equipment required.

If your son enjoys his hockey at school, and you feel you are able to, then we would really appreciate your support. This will ensure that the next generation of hockey players at RGS is able to thrive and love their time on the astro. Your support is vital.

Thank you!

Sam Clark
Head of Hockey