29 August 2022
Last week, Kirkham Grammar School were delighted to welcome back Team GB bronze medallist, Susannah Townsend, to host their annual Summer Hockey Camp for a third time. English international field hockey player, Sophie Bray, who played as a forward for England and Great Britain, also joined this year's camp coaching team, alongside Strength and Conditioning Coach, Charlotte Benson. Susannah competed for England in the women's hockey tournament at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where she won a silver medal; for GB at the Rio 2016 Olympics winning gold; and her most recent achievement, winning a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. At the age of 32, after achieving an outstanding 188 international caps for GB and England, Susannah decided to retire. Sophie Bray also competed for England in the women's hockey tournament at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where she won a silver medal, and was a member of the Investec sponsored winning team at the EuroHockey Championships in 2015. In 2016, along with Susannah, Sophie competed for Team GB in the women's Olympic field hockey tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio where Team GB won gold in the final against the Netherlands after a penalty shoot-out. Sophie was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to hockey. She had also played for Surbiton, University of Birmingham, The Netherlands for MOP Hockey Club, Vught, near Eindhoven, and most recently Kampong. On 4 February 2019, Bray announced her retirement from international hockey. During her international career she scored 44 goals and made 134 appearances for England and Great Britain. Charlotte Benson has worked with athletes from a wide range of high-performance sports teams including GB Hockey, GB Rowing, Harlequins Rugby and Surrey Storm Netball. Coming from an elite sporting background in football herself, she is aware of athletes' needs and expectations through the pathway into elite sport. She looks to implement this into her physical preparation strategy when coaching everyday female athletes. During the week, in addition to the hockey technical sessions, Susannah, Sophie and Charlotte shared and inspired the girls with their hockey and sporting journeys. They learnt about the importance of nutrition and thoroughly enjoyed Charlotte's strength and conditioning sessions, which are crucial in preventing injury. The final day saw a tournament take place which gave the girls the opportunity to put into practice everything they had learnt over the four days. After the tournament, a prizegiving presentation took place, in the presence of parents and family members, with Susannah and Charlotte presenting a selection of awards. This year's award winners can be viewed below:
Congratulations to the winners and well done to all of the girls who fully embraced the opportunity to learn from coaches with a wealth of experience.A selection of photographs can be viewed on our KGS Flickr page at: https://www.flickr.com/gp/kgsphotos/36wc2Jk520