Over half term 19 sixth form boys travelled to the Netherlands via coach and ferry for the first Senior Boys Hockey tour in at least ten years. After a day of travel, the boys enjoyed an evening of bowling and burgers, followed by a trip to Duinrell Theme park and water park on the Tuesday. That evening saw the team’s first game, against HC Hisalis. In an end to end game, the Senior boys held strong and won 2-1.

The third day included the boys first training session at Kampong – one of the best teams in the Netherlands, some free time in the beautiful city of Utrecht, where we were staying for the duration of our trip and our second fixture of the tour. The game was at HC Fletiomare, who were awarded ‘European Club of the Year’ in 2009! The game was extremely fast paced, with both sides throwing absolutely everything at one another. The senior boys managed to come back from 3-1 down to secure a 3-3 draw. In a shootout, SVS remained calm and composed, securing the victory.

The penultimate day took the group back to Kampong for their second training session and some time spent watching the Men’s 1^st XI train. This was an amazing experience as several of the team had recently competed for the Netherlands in the Paris Olympics, so the standard was obviously very high! Following lunch, the group headed into Amsterdam for an educational canal cruise before travelling to HC Leerdam for their third and final match of the tour. The boys put together everything they had learnt and came away victorious with a 5-2 win.

After an early leave on Friday morning, the group arrived safely back at Sutton Valence mid-afternoon after four nights away. The boys were an absolute pleasure throughout the tour and represented the schools superbly.