The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Spalding Hockey Club recently entertained teams from HC Capelle, a Dutch club based near The Hague.
The Dutch youngsters played against teams from the Spalding club at Glen Park before travelling to London to play matches at the national Lee Valley Stadium and spend time sightseeing in the capital.
By their own admission, HC Capelle is one of Holland’s smaller hockey clubs but still manages to run a junior section with more than 300 members including young players from 3 to 18 years.
They brought a coachload of players and managers for the matches against Spalding HC, fielding a total of four teams with an under-15 girls, under-15 boys and two under 18-girls teams.
With games being played consecutively on the excellent all-weather pitch at Glen Park, there was plenty of action throughout the day which proved a great success.
The Dutch girls won the first encounter against Spalding’s Under-15 girls but the home club came out on top in the other three matches with all games being played in a fantastic spirit.
Such was the success of the day that Spalding HC have been invited to send teams to play in Holland in May 2017.
Spalding Hockey Club has two opportunities for juniors to play hockey at its base in Surfleet:
Saturdays 9.30am-11am – these coaching sessions, which will run weekly until Saturday, May 21, are for boys and girls aged 5 to 14 years and cater for players of all abilities including complete beginners.
The club asks for £3 per week to cover pitch hire and equipment costs and sticks are available if required.
Tuesdays 7pm-8.30pm – junior sixes until May 24.
These sessions are for boys aged 12-14 and girls aged 12-16. There will be a cost of £15 for the seven-week period.
For more information please contact Fred Morris fredricmorris@yahoo.co.uk or visit the club’s website www.spaldinghockey.co.uk
