Over the half term break 35 senior hockey players and four members of staff travelled to Utrecht in the Netherlands for the senior hockey tour. During an action packed six days both senior squads were able to immerse themselves in everything that Dutch hockey had to offer (it’s a professional sport in the Netherlands!). Two training sessions at the start of the tour at Kampong Hockey Club gave them the taste of the wonderful facilities on offer, Kampong has 10 floodlit astros, 80 senior teams and 72 junior teams, and they were lucky enough to get some expert coaching from the Kampong staff before heading into their three fixtures. Fixtures against Amersfoort Hockey club, Madese Hockey Club, Hockey Club Soest and Hockey Club Eemvallei all offered slightly different but wonderful experiences and the Exeter teams were successful in winning five of the six matches on tour.
However, as everyone knows touring isn’t just about the sport and the tourists and the opportunity to visit the Efteling theme park, an Eredivisie football match between FC Utrecht and Ajax (the home team won 4-3!), ten pin bowling, a trip up the A’DAM tower and a pancake cruise – the most pancakes eaten by an Exeter tourist was 6, the record is 17! There was even time to enjoy the excellent food and facilities at the hotel. I’m am sure that everyone involved will agree it was a superb tour and we hope that those who went are able to take some of the excellent hockey they played whilst away into their seasons at home.
Please note that the upcoming Netball (L5/U5), Cricket (L5/U5) and Rugby (current U5/L6) will be advertised in next week’s newsletters.
