Southend and Benfleet HC had never been on a coach trip before. The idea came from a vision Naomi had thought up whereby players could have the opportunity to not only to play together, but to travel together too.
Having formed great friendships over the years with Herne Bay Hockey Club, there was only going to be one destination to take the S&B players to and give them the ultimate hockey day out.

Herne Bay Hockey club is the pinnacle of all UK hockey facilities. It boasts 2 brand new pitches, a beautifully built double story club house with balconies overlooking the pitches and practical facilities for during and after play. Not only this, the club members are extremely welcoming and knowledgeable of the game. After a few messages back and forth, Naomi and Alister, between them, set out to provide a training day experience available to all levels and abilities for both S&B HC and Herne Bay HC ladies.

Once arrived at the venue, Alistair and his coaching team had the day all planned out and ready to go!
Once introduced, players spit into teams and worked on various drills such as channelling, one on one’s and shooting exercises. We also had the opportunity to use a ball machine which fired out balls at pace, 65 MPH in some cases, to practice deflection shots. A player favourite may I mention! Aerials were to follow and disguise passing was adding to the mix. During practice, the players got to meet new players and build new hockey friendships which was great to see.

The goal keepers also had a fantastic time learning some new drills and positional training from coach Becks, who regularly coaches at Canterbury HC. The goal keepers lapped up every ounce of knowledge she had to offer and even gave aerials a try too!

After lunch the teams set out to play some competitive matches. Each side were given a game play objective card which they had to try and achieve. For example- ‘you’re 2.1 down with 10 minutes to go’. This gave the players lots to think about and allowed for an extra bit of competition. The Herne Bay coaches then gave really useful feedback during and after the matches which I’m sure the players from both clubs will take away and use in the future.

Once freshened up, the players enjoyed a fun social whereby Herne Bay’s regular musician took to the stage. He and his friend strummed their guitars playing all the hits while the S&B and Herne Bay players enjoyed a boogie and giants pizza together! I say giant, 24 inch pizzas to be exact!
This gave another great opportunity to all players to form new relationships between the two clubs which was great to see! After all, it’s great to get to know other people who share hockey as a passion.

All in all, the day was a complete success. From the coach ride all the way through to the excellent teaching from the Herne Bay coaching team.

We hope to make this an annual trip going forward and we can’t wait to be back at Herne Bay HC next spring.

Don’t forget to check out the photos!

By Naomi