Hockey News Archive: 2008/2009
School of Sport Hockey Players Help Azzurri Kelburne Win the Scottish Cup
The Under 14 Scottish Cup contested in Peffermill, Edinburgh was again won by Azzuri Kelburne in a hard fought contest which resulted in Kelburne beating local rivals Clydesdale 3-1 on penalty flicks. An incredible seven players from the School of Sport hockey programme helped them take the title with Andrew Duff and Jack McAllister scoring two of the winning three flicks. Molly Godfrey, Jack McKenzie, Connor Bain, Drew Berry and captain Adam McInnes were all flying the flag for the Glasgow School of Sport. Well done to all on a fantastic achievement!
 |
Winning School of Sport squad are pictured from left to right Connor Bain, Molly Godfery, Drew Berry and Andrew Duff and front row Jack McKenzie, Adam McInnes and Jack McAllister |
 |
Kelburne Under 14 team pictured with their winning team mates |
Click to return to top of page
Derek Forsyth Appointed
Glasgow School of Sport, in partnership with Scottish Hockey, announced the appointment of Derek Forsyth as new Assistant High Performance Coach today.
 |
Forsyth commented: "I am looking forward to exciting challenges within the hockey programme at the Glasgow School of Sport, in particular working with young players who will help Scotland, and Great Britain, achieve in the near future."
Scottish Hockey Performance Manager Callum McLeod said: "Derek gets results; he has a track record of developing talented players and instilling a winning mentality."
Forsyth joins other Scottish talent, Susan Ahrens and Euan Miller, to create a powerhouse of coaching at the School of Sport. His work will be largely focussed on the development of players through Scottish Hockey's West Performance Squad and as well as integrating national team principles and concepts into daily coaching at the School of Sport.
Commenting on the appointment, Glasgow School of Sport Director Angela Porter said: "We are delighted to have attracted such a high calibre coach to the position and Derek's experience and proven track record of coaching on the high performance pathway will be a real asset to all pupils and staff. We are committed to supporting hockey players for the long term and Derek's appointment strengthens the contribution Glasgow School of Sport is making to Scottish Hockey's Stronger Game Programme, focussed on long term player development."
 |
Derek Forsyth |
The Assistant High Performance Coach is a shared post, with Scottish Hockey and Glasgow School of Sport both funding this position.
Scottish Hockey is the national governing body for hockey in Scotland, with over 134,000 participants in the sport on a weekly basis (including schools), over 6,300 senior members and eight national teams from Under 16 through to senior level.
In this, its tenth anniversary year, it celebrates the outstanding success of pupils who have contributed to and developed through, the hockey programme. The programme has grown from five pupils to a steady annual role of over thirty.
Over 30 hockey pupils have so far represented Scotland at junior national level (Under 16 and Under 18), two have achieved GB Youth Olympic status and six have progressed to reach GSOS's ultimate aim of representation at Scottish senior level.
These achievements have been made through good working partnership with local clubs, most notably Clydesdale and Kelburne, and strong links with Scottish Hockey and its dedicated team of national youth coaches. With increased staffing and our developing programme, we hope to build on these successes and partnerships in the coming years.
Click to return to top of page
November 2008
Olympic Gold Medallist Franzi Gude Visits
Visiting Olympic Gold Medallist Franzi Gude came to the School for the afternoon and delighted the S1 and S2 group with a fun-filled session. Despite pouring rain, Franzi gave the hockey players plenty to smile about with a lively session which they all thoroughly enjoyed. As Olympic prospect Gordon Amour enthused, “It was great to have a top German player coaching us and I loved the fact she gave us lots of dribbling!”
 |
Olympic Gold Medallist Franzi Gude (top centre) surrounded by GSoS S1 and S2 pupils |
After the session Franzi commented on how impressed she was with the talent and work rate of all the pupils. Luckily for the pupils, Franzi was generous enough to allow them to try on the medal for size and they all enjoyed posing for photographs with it. Some (Lee Morton!) managed to make this posing session almost as long as the hockey itself!
Before leaving, Director Angela Porter presented Franzi with a coveted GSoS t-shirt and we snapped her in front of our very own honours board - see Visiting Stars.Click to return to top of page
May 2008
International links - Australian Hockey Exchange
Congratulations to the School of Sport boys listed below who have recently represented Scotland Under 16s in Test Match Series in both Belgium and Poland.
In Belgium it was goals galore as Seoras Gaughan, Aidan Black, Craig Morton, Ben Peterson and Stewart Coghlan battled out 3 matches. The scores for the matches were:
Belgium 6-3 Scotland
Belgium 7-6 Scotland
Belgium 3-1 Scotland
Aidan Black scored his 1st goal for Scotland.
 |
Scotland Under 16 team (Photograph by R. Smith) |
Having taken great confidence from their performances, if not their results, from Belgium, Craig Morton, Seoras Gaughan, Ben Peterson and Aidan Black travelled to Poland for another Test series. This turned, into an injury nightmare for the Scots with Seoras and Ben both getting injured in off the ball incidents as the Poles did their best to stop the more skilful Scottish team. Despite the injury set backs the boys performed well. The scores from the trip were:
Poland 3-1 Scotland
Poland 5-6 Scotland
Poland 6-3 Scotland
Aidan Black was back scoring again and Ben Peterson scored his 1 st goals for Scotland.
It was a very physical trip indeed for the boys but a valuable lesson learned which will provide invaluable experience for future trips with the Junior Scotland Squad.
Well done to Jay Cheyne who represented the Scotland Development Squad in matches against the Ulster Girls provincial team in Belfast. It was a big step up for Jay who played in a variety of positions and as a result of her performances she has been picked to play in the 3 test series against Wales in June 2008 for Scotland Under 16s.
Lauren Grant has been picked for the Scotland Under 18 Training Squad, as has Josh Cairns who is making good progress after a niggling back injury.
