First ever Oxford Hawks Junior Hockey Camp
After some very thorough planning and organisation, we were really excited to actually reach the start of the very first Oxford Hawks Junior Hockey Camp! There were approximately 100 players registered each day – far more than we had originally anticipated might sign up and we even had a waiting list. The aim of the camp was to engage young players, make sure they had fun and inspire them to continue to play hockey.
The Camp is part of the Ladies 1st XI’s ongoing commitment to ‘giving back’ to the Club and developing the next generation of Hawks players. The two days would have been nowhere near as successful and quite possibly not even have got off the ground without some seriously impressive planning and attention to detail by a committed organising group. On the day, the enthusiasm, energy and expertise of the players and coaches working with the young players ensured that everyone had a fantastic experience and we’ve received some lovely feedback!
Obviously the main activity over the two days was lots of hockey coaching with a broad theme of goal scoring on the first day and defending on the second day. Alongside this, lots of children had a go in goal; there was the opportunity for some of the older juniors to take the England Hockey Leadership Award; and during one lunchtime session, all the young players listened to Miriam being ‘interviewed’ by Andy Clark about her experiences of playing international hockey. There was even a hockey themed quiz and cake at the end of the day!
Thank you to the many people involved either in planning or delivering the two days…it was a fantastic team effort and had raised a significant amount of money for the Club. As ever, thank you as well to Clive Jones for his brilliant photos. We are already thinking about how we can build on and improve things for the next time!