Queen’s College Taunton is rapidly gaining an outstanding reputation for hockey with three teams reaching the 2013 
national schools finals. In the last calendar year five of the school’s teams have reached the national schools hockey finals.
The U13 boys won gold in May 2012, the U16 girls took silver in February 2013, with the U14 boys claiming the bronze medal on the 23rd April 2013.
In September 2012 the school launched the Queen’s College Hockey Academy to further improve the level of hockey at the school with expert international coaching.
The Hockey Academy is also open to enthusiastic prep & primary school players aged 10 to 13 from across the South West who are interested in playing sport at a high level.
The Hockey Academy and coaching of boys and girls teams is headed up at Queen’s College by Olympic hockey player Ian Haley, who represented South Africa in last summer’s Olympic Games, along with top coach Andrew Free who is the director of sport at the school.
In addition, Queen’s College has heavily invested in its hockey provision with the launch of a second new international 
standard hockey Astroturf pitch so that matches can be played simultaneously and larger hockey tournaments held at the school.
The facility was launched in September in conjunction with the Academy with an exhibition match that included senior international players showcasing their skills which attracted an audience of over 600.
“Looking at the tremendous success of both our hockey teams and individual pupils, there is no doubt that Queen’s College is now one of the leading schools for hockey in the country.
This is a major achievement. We take hockey very seriously here at Queen’s College and are fortunate to have, in addition to Ian, a strong team of hockey coaches who want to improve young people’s hockey skills and techniques and lift them to the next level.
Hockey is a great game which can be played by both men and women throughout their lives and our hockey academy gives keen and enthusiastic young people from across the region the skills to take them onto the next 
level.” Chris Alcock, Headmaster.
The U16 girls team reached the national finals in February 2013, finishing as runners-up in England. They notched up notable victories against St George’s College and Wakefield School. However, they narrowly lost to Cranleigh School 1-0 in a tensely fought national final. They are also county and regional champions.
The U14 boys hockey team were also national finalists this year, finishing third in the country on the 23rd April 2013. They beat Bromsgrove 4-0, Bishop Stortford 2-0, and then Repton 4-0 in the bronze medal match, but unfortunately lost to eventual winners Kingston Grammar 2-1 in the pool matches.
The team scored the most goals and conceded the least at the tournament which was a great achievement. They are also U14 Somerset Champions and West of England runners up.
Last year the same team were the U13 Boys National Champions at the In2 Hockey Championships with the U13 girls team finishing 9th at the same tournament.
The U16 boys team have also reached the national finals where they performed admirably with a 0-0 draw against 
Ipswich, 1-0 loss to KES Birmingham, and a 4-0 loss to eventual runners up Whitgift School. They are also U16 Somerset runners-up and West Region runners-up.
The U14 girls team are county championship runners up which meant we narrowly missed out on qualifying for the West of England Championships.
U11 boys and girls teams also qualified for the West of England finals held on the 23rd April 2013. The girls won two, lost two and drew two finishing third overall on the day. The boys won two, lost two and drew two finishing fifth on the day.
The U11 girls are the Somerset county champions and U11 boys are the county runners up. In addition, on an individual level, four students have been selected to play for the Wessex Leopards. Olivia Hoskins, Atalanta Stanhope-White and Patrick Free attend the U15’s England Hockey High Performance Centre.
Year 11 hockey player Laura Fry was a member of the U16 Wessex Leopards who won the 2012 England Hockey Futures Cup with Laura being a key goal scorer.
This competition forms part of the Junior Performance Centre and prepares players for potential future involvement in a National Age Squad Group.
Patrick Free is also a key member of the UK Lions U14 team that recently toured Gibraltar during the Easter holidays.
Queen’s College is on the lookout for good sportspeople and is offers sports scholarships for 11+, 13+ and 16+entry. Please contact admissions@queenscollege.org.uk or telephone 01823 340830 for more information or visit the school next Monday 6th May from 9.30am for Open Morning.