I’ve now been doing Hockey Mentors for four years, writes Hockey Mentors player Annie P.

In that time I’ve done four tours and have yet to participate in one I haven’t enjoyed. Because of these last four years, I have seen familiar faces at every hockey event I have gone to, whether that be the TA tournament or league matches or DiSE, I feel as if I’m never alone because of all the friendships I have made at Hockey Mentors

In 2022 I joined Mentors as a shy and inexperienced hockey player, who hadn’t been exposed to high level hockey. After joining, I participated in matches against some of the most successful school teams such as Haileybury, Clifton College and Repton. Playing in these matches allowed me to gain experience I wouldn’t have been able to obtain.  This experience has translated into my club and representative hockey, where I have been selected for and captained my TA team.

Hockey Mentors has helped me as a person as much as it has a player, and this has led me to be more confident in myself. This confidence has stemmed from the support given by my senior players and coaching staff who’s encouragement and mentoring helped improve my game both on and off the pitch.

A personal highlight for me would have to be the recent World Hockey Youth Festival, where I was fortunate enough to captain the Hockey Mentors team throughout such an incredible three days of hockey.  During this tournament I formed a close bond with my team by getting to know each of my teammates, whether that be when we are travelling on the coach or during our warm up or during downtime at the hostel. As captain, my personal goal was to create a warm and welcoming culture within the team.  As there was a mix between the ages myself and the other two captains didn’t want this to be a barrier. I believe that the culture off the pitch translates onto the pitch which is why we were keen to develop a welcoming culture. This in turn allows people to connect and trust others within the matches and play to their full potential. On top of that, it also makes the tours so much more enjoyable simply because people feel so much more secure and relaxed.  The experience becomes even more memorable.

Prior to the tournament, my co captains and I knew we wanted to focus on creating an inclusive ethos. We achieved this through a number of different elements, firstly we created a list of ‘non negotiable’ for the team, including moving together as a team during the day and always warming up together, always being on time, and no bitchiness. The last non negotiable was the buddy system, where before a match we would talk to other players in our  positions and set a goal before the match, and then after the match reflect in the same groups whether we achieved these goals or not. We found that this allowed people to talk to each other and connect with each other. Furthermore, in our downtime, we tried to spend as much time as a team as possible, an example being when we ordered take away pizza to the hostel we were staying out and eating it all together on picnic benches. I’ve found from past experiences as well as this one that the more time you spend as a team, the closer you grow to each other.

I’d like to credit the girls who went before me that taught me these leadership skills 😊