Major Sport - Hockey
At Reed’s we furnish pupils with the basic individual techniques and decision-making skills in Hockey to enhance their opportunities to play for the School at a level appropriate to their ability.
We are proud that every pupil can play hockey on one of our two floodlit astroturf pitches and get expert guidance and tuition from our team of very experienced coaches. In 2019 our 1st XI won the England U18 Tier 1 national championships with a team that included nine members who hadn’t played hockey before they came to Reed’s. As a cohort they had won bronze at the U14 Nationals, silver at the U16 Nationals before gold at U18; a credit to the hard work of the boys and our coaches that such progression could be achieved.
Each team is appointed its own coach, and elite players can benefit from our High Performance Programme of specialised coaching and physiological training with our Strength & Conditioning team.
We have an established programme for pupils to develop technical skills, social awareness and teamwork. Pupils who are new to hockey at U12 and U14 benefit from small group coaching sessions; an excellent environment in which to accelerate their learning.
The Surrey and South of England circuits provide Reed’s with a very tough programme across all age groups. The 1st XI faces consistently strong opposition, playing some of the best school teams in the country. There are opportunities to compete nationally at all age levels.
Our coaching team offers a wealth of experience from staff with international hockey pedigrees who have facilitated many players to gain county and national representative honours. Director of Sport, Andy Watts, was a Premier League hockey player and coach for over 15 years at Reading Hockey Club, winning the European Cup, Premiership and EH Cup in that time. He has coached the Wimbledon HC’s Women's 2nd XI in the National League, managed their Talent Academy for 15-to18-year-old boys and girls and is now back in the Premier League as Assistant Coach of Surbiton Men's 1st XI.
Hockey professional and 1st XI coach, Mike Williamson, is a former international player who has coached Wales in the Commonwealth Games and has a wealth of experience across all levels of performance hockey. Assistant Hockey Professional, Megan Crowson, is a former GB Hockey U23 captain and a qualified coach with extensive experience of coaching girls’ hockey in independent schools. Megan currently plays for Wimbledon in the National Premier League.
Through links with local clubs, players regularly have opportunities to play in National League hockey for prestigious and successful clubs like Surbiton, Reading, Wimbledon and Old Georgians
