Over the summer, 34 girls from Oundle School took part in the Oundle School Hockey Tour to Malaysia and Australasia. Over 26 days, the girls played 18 games as they travelled through Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland.
English teacher and coach, Tim Hipperson commented, “The tour provided challenging matches against the top schools in various states, and these schools were tremendously generous and offered the opportunity for the girls to learn about different cities across the world.”
Georgie Davies (18) commented, “Throughout the three and a half weeks not only did we improve greatly on the hockey pitch but we were also lucky enough to visit a number of amazing places. Just to mention a few; climbing the Sydney harbour bridge on a day with bright blue skies, going to watch the All Blacks play Australia in Auckland and on our way back home visiting the elephant sanctuary in Kuala Lumpar. Throughout our time we were lucky enough to train on the Olympic pitch in Sydney and receive coaching from three former international hockey players and play some of the best teams in the world. Our level of hockey improved both as a team and as individuals. All in all, it was a trip that I am sure none of us will ever forget.”
Tilly Stanton (15) added, “The hockey tour was a great success and a once in a lifetime opportunity. The matches were a lot of fun and it was nice to play teams that we have never played before and will never play again! I had the most amazing time.”
Eliza Reay-Glover (15) concluded, “I enjoyed Sydney as a place the best, the scenery, views, harbour and general city are spectacular and I loved every minute of it. Particularly our visit to Taronga Zoo, it was amazing! I also really enjoyed being billeted which really surprised me, I expected to be too scared to enjoy it but it ended up being such an interesting and new experience and was lovely to meet so many new people.
The matches were probably some of the most challenging I have ever played, especially when being told beforehand that they will be the best teams in the world…no pressure! They went very well I think, particularly taking into consideration the fact that we were both new teams, many of us playing together for the first time which adds even more pressure and difficulty. Playing hockey solidly for three and a half weeks definitely improved everyone’s all-round hockey skills quite considerably; as well as our fitness which most certainly improved drastically. Having the coaching from the ex Australian players in the Olympic Stadium in Sydney definitely changed the way we played, personally it improved my tackling and we learnt how to dive in the D which was fun!”