Senior schools dropping boys hockey

[tachetastic]

That really. I was at an open day at Bryanston this year and as we walked around it steadily became apparent that hockey will no longer be offered as a sport for boys below Year 11. Boys can choose it as an after school extra-curricular activity but it will no longer be an option for games and Bry will not participate in inter-school matches. However, boys will have the option to play football in all three terms. Other sports will be offered in one or two terms.

The only explanation I could get was that football is more popular than hockey, which to be honest I find a weak argument for not at least having it as an option. Even if the school was doing badly it seems extreme to get rid of the sport completely. Apparently Year 9 and 10 boys can join the Year 11 team as an exception, but I cannot imagine most wanting to join games lessons with boys two years older rather than play matches with their friends even if in a different sport.

Do people know if there are many other schools moving in this direction and dropping hockey as a sport for boys to prioritise football? If so, I think that is a real shame, though I confess that may in part be my inner snob showing. 😉

It’s certainly not something I’ve heard of at our school (fairly traditional). Hockey is still the default sport for boys in the Lent term. Rugby in Michaelmas term and cricket in Summer term. Other sports are available from Y9 up, but those 3 sports are what most boys do. Having said that, I have heard that some schools are moving away from rugby and more towards football so it may be something to do with that. It seems a shame if schools are focussing more on football rather than exposing children to multiple sports.

Exactly. It is easy for schools to allow boys to play football in their houses after school, or for boys to organise it themselves. Much harder for boys to organise a (safe) rugby, hockey or cricket game themselves so better to expose them to these sports in lessons where it is a controlled environment.

Bryanston started giving boys ( and girls) the choice to play football or hockey in the hockey term and at least in the current Year 10 there was no boys hockey team as everyone ( or at least vast majority) chose football. I personally think it’s a mistake to have more than one sport option as you just end up splitting the sporty kids and then both teams get thrashed by schools which funnel their sporty kids into a single sport ( because most sporty kids are decent at all sports even if they only excel at one so you get strength in depth even if you only have a few real stars). Co- Ed schools are already at a disadvantage vs single sex of the same numbers so it doesn’t seem logical to dilute it further.

There is also the fact that all the schools playing the same sports on rotation massively facilitates organising weekly matches.

That said, Bryanston is a school that tends to do things a bit differently and I imagine most boys do prefer playing football to hockey given a straight choice. Boys rugby is experiencing reduced popularity ( nationally) and although I’m a parent of 2 rugby players I don’t think contact rugby should be mandatory and as a parent I would view a term of playing touch rugby to be a complete waste of time and would want there to be an alternative so I can see both sides of it.

If you want a committed hockey school in that geographic region look at Canford?

Hockey still very much on offer at Sherborne, according to my U6 DS.

Hockey is the 4th sport at many boys schools and so given much less attention than football, cricket and rugby

not too many people will be upset about less focus on hockey

if it happens to be your DS sport of choice, then that is annoying

best to somewhere where it is highly valued

Repton is the best place for Hockey. I’m sure Millfield have a decent team too

FWIW neither Repton nor Winchester play rugby so my DS would not go to either school

Thanks for the comments. I think this trend is inevitable. I spoke to the (I now understand then outgoing) Director of Sport at Sherborne last year and while he was clear that hockey would remain an option, he said football is also an option and it is more popular.

I actually think DS would be happy with football, and it is me that would prefer him to play hockey as he is really talented and there are lots of options to play football out of school. He would definitely prefer football to rugby in Michelmas term (annoyingly, as he was a really promising winger until his knee was trampled when he was scoring a try that put him out of action for months 😬)

The DoS at Bry said that if boys wanted to play football in all three terms that would be permitted, which I do think is a shame, as there must be benefit in variety.

It's a real shame. Hockey is a great team sport for boys. In the last 20 years or so football has become increasingly popular with the middle classes sadly. Football has over taken rugby at our local public school.
That said DS2's school everyone has to play rugby and hockey is an option from year 9 and football is only allowed in the sixth form.

Sherborne has had football for a long time- my cousin who is 36 was one of the first to campaign for it but they are an all boys school so have the numbers to accommodate variety which arguably Bryanston don’t. I don’t mind football at all but like pp I don’t like the way it is so dominant to the extent that all other sports fall away. My son went into year 9 hating hockey but he loves it now. He plays football as a kick around after prep.