Hockey

In 2012, the UK experienced phenomenal growth in the numbers of people taking up Hockey. At Bedford Girls’ School, the sport is one of the most popular timetabled and co-curricular among girls from Years 3 to 13.

With expert coaching and our own all weather pitch, we are able to offer a style and pace of play that competes with that of the international game. A far cry from cold, slow afternoon matches on muddy pitches, hockey at Bedford Girls’ school is fast furious and fun. It is, then, no wonder that our teams began 2013 with a clean sweep of the county’s indoor tournaments or that our A, B, C and D teams are enjoying unparalleled success weekend after weekend.

The Game

In common with elite international hockey, we only play on artificial grass or indoors. This speeds up the game dramatically and calls for a much higher level of skill and precision than the old fashioned game. Using modern carbon fibre sticks also makes the game far more exciting both to watch and play and its reputation as an exhilarating, action-packed and intelligent game is well deserved.

Coaching

With five members of PE staff who have played at a high level in the English National League, as well as an experienced external coach, our girls enjoy receiving precisely the right level of coaching for their stage of skill and development. Dedicated hockey coaching also means we are able to offer hockey all year round, not just through the autumn term, which is unheard of in most coeducational schools. In addition, in keeping with the school’s philosophy of competitive sport for all, we regularly field as many as 20 teams on a single day during tournament season, ensuring everyone can win a place in a team while playing at the right level for them.

Development

In 2012, Bedford Girls’ School began playing in the prestigious Independent Schools Midland League for the first time, playing against the region’s premier school sides. Many of our girls also represent Bedfordshire at Junior Development and Junior Academy level and our new High Performance training groups are actively working to bring more of our elite players through to international level.