Hockey Before the Hols: Staff vs Students

Monday 27^th March saw players take to the pitch for the annual staff vs students hockey match. The sun shone on the Astro and supporters lined the side to cheer on their team. The staff were confident having experienced success in previous years but the student team included some talented players including an Under-16 England player, a player trying out for the German national team and a variety of club players too.

Matt Richards, Head of Hockey and ex-England Hockey player, captained the staff team who were decked out in bold red kit for the occasion. The students had swapped jolly hockey socks with one another and were sporting a variety of legwear – clearly aiming to distract their opponents with their sartorial choices!

Matt was enthusiastic about the event, saying, “The students have been looking forward to today for a long time and they all love playing sport against the staff that they see day in day out, so it’s great to take time out of a busy day to have made it such a good experience for them. I hope everyone enjoyed the game too. Some great performances! It wasn’t quite the win we’ve been used to, but a 2-2 draw maintains our now four year unbeaten run. I must admit that they were a strong student side and made the game much more competitive than I was expecting! “

Sian (Upper Sixth) who captained the student side reflected, “Considering we don’t normally play mixed hockey it was great to get to play with the boys and we gave a really strong performance which allowed us to be the first student team ever to not lose against the staff! The 10 minutes we were leading 2-1 was very exciting because we thought we might be able to hold off for the win!”

Deputy Head (Academic), Alex Wallace, who shook out his stripey socks and joined the staff team for the occasion commented, “It is so important we continue to find time for such events. They are great memories for the kids but also for our staff community!”