FORTY Shipston High School youngsters have just returned from a hugely successful debut tour to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
The tour was the finale to what has been an excellent season of hockey for both the boys and girls and was reward for the students’ hard work and commitment to the sport.
The tour compromised of training sessions, fixtures and local culture and students enjoyed four training sessions led by Rotterdam Hockey Club.
The final session was led by a current Spanish international player, which was inspirational for those wishing to take their hockey further.
The sessions enabled players to work on many new skills and gave them opportunity to train on a full-sized astroturf.
Over the course of the weekend, the students increased in confidence with the ball and that was evident when they were able to transfer their newly-acquired skills into the game.
Both the boys and girls had fixtures against Rotterdam and Capelle and both teams proved to be very strong opposition, but Shipston rose to the challenge and were able to capitalise in front of goal, with the first goal of the tour being scored by Joe Pritchard.
The weekend also included a canal cruise in Amsterdam for the students to appreciate the culture and history of the capital city. The trip proved to be a huge success and youngsters now look forward to implementing many of the new skills and tactics into their game next season.
