Visit by international hockey player Amy Costello – Shiplake College

Head of Hockey Tom Walter said of the visit: “Amy ran an engaging and enjoyable session for the squad. As well as developing their skills during a variety of exercises, Amy was happy to give students some individual advice and also inspired them with a few of her own stick skills! To see all of the students benefiting from Amy’s expertise was fantastic and we hope that they have taken away some valuable guidance for the future.”

Ellen Hodson, Captain of Hockey, Year 13:  “Amy Costello’s training session was very useful for our team and we learnt many new skills and improved out fitness while having fun. It was very inspiring being trained and receiving advice from such a successful GB athlete.”

In her talk, Amy spoke of her journey from playing junior hockey to her first international debut for Scotland when she was still at school in January 2016. Amy, who is 21 and one of the youngest in the GB squad, made her GB debut in January 2018 and is currently on a break from studying Sports Science at Birmingham University as she sets her sights on helping the team qualify for Tokyo 2020.

Chloe Mordue, Head of Girls’ Games, comments: “It was fantastic to have Amy Costello coaching the hockey girls and seeing them inspired by a young elite female athlete. Amy’s talk was really informative and the students asked great questions about her work schedule, health and time management and her hockey career.”

Hockey coach Sally Bayley adds: “It was great to see the girls so engaged in Amy’s talk. They were interested to hear how she worked with her sports psychologist for match preparation, especially when her game needed a boost. They were fascinated by how Amy managed her busy schedule and encouraged to hear how much the squad value good mental wellbeing.”
Girls’ Sport Captain, Maddie Simpson, Year 13, spoke very highly of the afternoon: “I thought the training session that we had with Amy Costello was extremely beneficial to working on our technique and our ability to work as a team; we were worked hard and I thought that all the girls came away from the session feeling good about themselves and more confident.”
Some of the girls subsequently purchased tickets to watch Amy play in the qualifiers for Tokyo 2020 against Chile in early November at the Olympic Park and were thrilled to see her and the GB team win both matches to firmly put her on the road to Tokyo..