Boys TA team unbeaten at TA Festival

A year's worth of hard work has paid off for the boys who have been part of the EGTA this season. The England Hockey pathway for high-potential players across the country culminated this weekend with the England Hockey Talent Academy Festival in Nottingham. 

As identified at the beginning of last season, 25 high-potential boys from clubs & schools across the Sussex, East Surrey and West Kent areas have been training & playing as the East Grinstead Talent Academy Squad for the last 9 months.

18 of these boys were selected to travel to Nottingham to take part in this national level festival of high-performance junior hockey. They faced 3 days and 3 full 60-minute matches against other TA's from right across the country. They stayed on campus and each day involved not only matches, but video analysis, coaching and educational programs on tactics and personal development.

Play started on Saturday with the boys taking on Bath Buccaneers TA. It was a good display from the EGTA boys, controlling much of the game demonstrating a well structure team and impressive array of out of possession presses, which made it very hard for Bath to hold on to the ball. The pressure resulted in long spells of possession, combined with skilful forward play which all resulted in a 4-0 win to the EGTA boys.

Sunday's match was against Durham Uni's TA, who had dispatched Wimbledon TA 6-1 in the first round. The match was a class game, with loads of energy and disciplined use of tactics from each side. 60 minutes of play resulted in stalemate at 2-2 after EG being ahead by 2 at 40 minutes. The winner was decided by shuffles with both EG keepers making 2 saves a piece, and goals from Sam B, Angus and Archie M giving EG the 3-2 win.

As one of only 6 teams who had won both previous matches, EGTA boys took on a good University of Exeter TA team in Monday's final game. Reports of a "tense" match best described them game, with both teams not wanting to give anything away, except a flurry of cards in the second half. EG's team dug deep, coming from 2 behind after just 6 minutes and a dominant performance in the 2^nd half, winning 3-2 in normal time.

The boys should so MASSIVELY proud of themselves. They are 1 of just 3 of 24 TA teams who won all of their matches. Their hard work, willingness to implement the strategies and coaching they have been working on all season and positive teamwork has given them the best result they can imagine.

A massive thanks to all the clubs and schools in our amazing area who have supported the first year of the TA. A huge thanks to Hurstpierpoint College for their amazing support, as well as the great coaching team who have worked with boys, Rob Sorrell, Jonny Fleck & Wesley Jackson.

Huge thanks also to the parents of all players. Those who travelled to Nottingham, stayed for multiple nights away from home and all those who for a year have delivered their youngster to Hurstpierpoint for training and taken them to far-flung places for matches. Thank you.

Above all, well done and thank you to the incredible group of boys who played at the tournament WITHOUT forgetting those who didn't manage to make the tournament squad but have played a huge part in the overall progress of everyone's hockey.