Independent day and boarding prep school, Windlesham House, has recently welcomed home 25 of its boys from an adrenalin-fuelled Hockey Tour in Holland, which saw them secure a record-breaking victory win, defeating eight out of nine strong Dutch teams. With just one draw, the school is celebrating its best-ever Hockey performance results having won all of the remaining 8–a-side matches played.
Staying in the vibrant and bustling city of Amsterdam, in between training, the boys were fortunate to attend a number of special coaching sessions with professional Dutch hockey coaches, as well as spend some time sightseeing with exciting visits to Anne Frank’s House and The Nemo Science Museum, to name a few.
Mark Duncan, Director of Sport at Windlesham House commented: “We are immensely proud of our boys who showed real skill and determination throughout the tour, not to mention courage and team spirit. They trained hard and played against some very strong Dutch teams so this was a fantastic achievement for all involved. We were also lucky enough to hone our skills further with some professional Dutch coaching sessions and to explore some of the city of Amsterdam too. The evenings were mainly focused on recovery and relaxation although we celebrated ‘player of the day’ at the end of each day, with fun awards.”
Windlesham House competed against Dutch teams HC Abcoude, HC Athena and HC Houten playing two 30 minute, 8-a-side matches before enjoying a final dinner at Hard Rock Café in Amsterdam and returning home the following day to the West Sussex countryside to celebrate their success.
Mark Duncan added: “Overseas tours like these provide a fantastic cultural experience for our pupils and also give them the valuable opportunity to demonstrate their sporting ability and develop their social and emotional skills. We are looking forward to future tours.”
