Over the Half Term break, the U18 boys’ hockey squad headed to the Netherlands to train and compete against some tough local teams.
On tour: Stirrup (c), Mansfield, Gulliver, Humphrey, Clark, Moir, Davenport, Butler, Sorabjee, Haynes, Dunleavy F, Ding, Ashworth, Faccenda, Ng, Morley, Cook, Beever, Eagles, Dunleavy F, Richard Hobley, Robert Hastings
Many thanks to Mr Hastings for his report on the boys’ trip:
The morning of Monday 16th February was a cold one and it saw a group of 22 people arrive at school to embark on a five-day trip to Holland, dreaming of scoring goals, eating waffles and wearing clogs. Ten hours later the tourists arrived in the small seaside town of Noordwijk aan See on the Dutch coast. It is a small town with some shops, a few bars and restaurants, a myriad of hotels and, of course, the delightfully brown looking North Sea. After settling in to the well-positioned Hightop Hotel, the tourists dispersed to explore the town. A tasty supper was had in the hotel and people then settled down for a good night’s sleep.
The next morning was the first training session at the local hockey club with Andy, a professional Dutch hockey coach. The boys were put through their paces and under bright sunshine the boys worked hard on shooting and transferring the ball. It was then back to the hotel for lunch and a few hours off before travelling to our first fixture against Rotterdam Hockey Club, the largest and most prestigious club in Holland. The 5,000-seater arena is a sight to behold and the sea of astro pitches surrounding the arena shows just how seriously club hockey is taken. The game was against their A2 side, an U18B team. However, A team containing now fewer than eight U18 national players, it shows the quality of the side we faced. Despite playing some sound hockey we failed to convert some gilt-edged chances and were 2-0 down midway through the second’half. Despite scoring a neatly worked goal it was too little too late and a 2-1 loss was the final result. The team then enjoyed after-match hospitality in the sumptuous clubhouse and a slightly weary squad set off for the 45-minute journey back to Noordwijk.
Wednesday dawned crisp and bright and the plan was for a bit of culture in the beautiful city of Amsterdam. The river cruise was a surprising hit with the players and there was much snapping of photos and general comments about the qualities of a Dutch bridge and the entertaining commentary (in at least 4 languages) of the boat’s captain, Rudi. An hour of wonderful architecture later and the squad dispersed for a couple of hours of free time. Richard Hobley and Robert Hastings got hopelessly lost, ending up practically off the map. What was meant to be a leisurely stroll followed by a relaxed lunch turned in to a two-hour route march; a lot of Amsterdam does look very similar! The boys all arrived back to the allotted meeting point on time and we then headed to the Amsterdam Arena, home of Ajax FC. We were given an excellent tour by Ajax fanatic, Peta, and the stadium is an incredible sight. Souvenirs bought (including some Ajax handwash for only a 1 Euro (bargain!)), it was back on to the coach to our next match, via a hockey shop, at Baarnse HC. The start time seemed to have been moved forward 30 minutes without our knowledge but, not wanting to cause a diplomatic incident, the squad quickly warmed up and went 1-0 up within three minutes of the whistle; who needs a warm-up?! However, a very entertaining game with end-to-end action ended up 4-4 with seconds left on the clock. Cue Harry Moir who, with a long pass out of defence, sparked the winning goal. The ball was deftly controlled by George Ding who beat his man, smashed the ball to the near post and Captain, Jonny Stirrup, arrived right on time to deflect the ball clinically past the outstretched keeper. Goal… Whistle!. 5-4 win. Job done. We were then warmly entertained with some excellent post-match hospitality- that was a running theme of all three games, the friendliness of our hosts was without fault. A happy squad then headed back to the hotel, tired after a long day but delighted with the win.
Our final match day on Thursday was a mirror of the Tuesday with training in the morning, the only downside being a ball to the face of Jonny Stirrup. However, the friendliness and efficiency of the Dutch health service meant we were seen at the local surgery, patched up and back in the hotel within an hour. The Horton it was not. The weather was again gloriously sunny but with a bitterly cold wind, which is fine if you’re running around but not if you’re standing on the touchline! After lunch it was off to Alliance HC for a 4.00pm start- it was their first outside match for a number of months as they had been playing indoors before and after Christmas. This was reflected in the game as Bloxham shifted up a few gears to win comfortably 9-2; we even scored from a short corner, a rarity this season. A hat-trick for James Davenport with a combined distance from goal of all his goals being just over a metre showed that our build up play had been first class. A quick drink followed in the clubhouse and then it was back to Noordwijk for our end of tour meal held at a local Mexican (obviously!) restaurant. The boys then had an hour or two to themselves before being back in the hotel for a quick bit of packing before bed.
Friday started far too early but all credit to the touring party- everybody was packed, breakfasted and everything on the bus by 8.00am. Thankfully, the weather decided to turn wet, even windier and generally pretty miserable only as we were leaving. Despite getting stuck on the M25, we arrived back at Bloxham by 6.00pm, tired but satisfied with some good results, some excellent hockey and a touring experience that will stay long in the memory. The boys were excellent throughout and a pleasure to have on tour. Huge thanks must go to Richard Hobley for his excellent organisation of the trip, quality of the hockey and fantastic leadership. He mentioned that he hopes to make this a yearly event and I couldn’t agree with him more. Well done to everybody involved!