Blog
Scott in Sport: Hockey
Well this may be the trickiest blog I have written so far! How to write about a club I have been a member of for over 3 years?!
After the 'Big Freeze' over the Christmas holidays, all outdoor sports took an extra week before starting up again at the start of term. With the astro being frozen and covered in snow, hockey was one of those affected clubs. However, last weekend was pretty mild, allowing pitches to thaw and outdoor sport to happen again (with BUCS Football and Rugby fixtures and College Football fixtures going ahead on 22 Acres today).
Training starts at 6:30pm every other week (as the girls and boys alternate training sessions between 5-7pm and 6:30-8:30pm), with a gentle warm-up with a few laps round the track and some stretching. This is also the time for everyone to have their post-Christmas catch ups! Then at 7, the boys finished their training leaving the pitch free for the girls.
First thing on the pitch are the dreaded 'suicide runs'. These are great for fitness and this week involved starting at the base-line, jogging out to the 25 yard line, sprinting back, then jog to the 50 yard line, sprint back, jog to 75 yard line, sprint back, jog to the opposite base-line, sprint back and then do it all over again backwards. They sound pretty hellish and don't feel great while you're doing them, but are the type of thing you enjoy afterwards!
After that, we got our sticks and got into groups of 3 to practice pushing and hitting, along with practicing turning with the ball and remaining strong. After a bit of this we moved into a shooting drill, which involved taking shots on goal, but aiming for the corners and having people running in to the post to finish the goals if needed be. Then after a few more drill exercises we went into a game for the last half hour of the session. This is the time that you get to put the skills that you've been learning into practice in a match situation.
All of a sudden it's 8.30pm and the Football Club begin to appear for their training session and hockey training is over for another week. It always seems to fly by and after three years of it, I'm still there every week! If you fancy coming down to training and getting involved, it's on Monday nights and welcomes new people throughout the year regardless of standard. Just email hockey@yusu.org to check what time training is (whether you'll be in the 5-7pm or the 6.30-8.30pm slot). Perhaps I'll see you there soon!
