A YOUTH hockey club and a school have linked up in order to discover the hockey stars of tomorrow.
Blue Hornets, Dunmow & Braintree's youth hockey club, and Felsted School have announced they are to develop a centre of excellence.
For the past four years Blue Hornets have trained at Felsted School and over this time the club has gone from strength to strength.
Club manager Charlie Fillingham said: "Not only can we give the children more hockey practice at the weekend, we are really looking forward to ensuring they get the best quality coaching on offer.
"Felsted have also given us use of their indoor facilities, which will be great for those frosty mornings. We are proud to be one of the best teams in the area and with this new partnership we have our sights firmly set on taking our players to the nationals."
With expanded facilities now available, the players can expect more hockey, focused coaching, dedicated sessions for goalkeepers, improved timings for practice and – most importantly – all children able to enjoy competitive hockey against some of the best teams in East Anglia.
To recognise the support from Felsted School, the club will be known from January 2013 onwards as Blue Hornets Felsted. It continues to be the youth section of Phoenix Hockey Club (Dunmow & Braintree hockey club adult section) and an integral part of the community, welcoming children from all schools across the area to share in the superb facilities at Felsted, which includes two Astroturf pitches.
An additional Astroturf pitch is now available immediately for the club to use and is the first, big step towards the fulfilment of the clubs ambitions.
Dr Walker, head teacher of Felsted School said: "We are delighted to be working with the Blue Hornets to create a Centre of Excellence at Felsted School.
"This will not only benefit children in the local area, but our own pupils who wish to play more hockey. Many of our younger pupils are already members, but we are particularly keen to support the Club in expanding the older age groups so our keenest hockey players can receive quality hockey coaching and play more top level matches, including indoor, over two terms."
If you would like to be part of the Blue Hornets then visit www.bluehornetshc.co.uk.
