SLOUGH Hockey Club gave opportunities to a number of young stars at the final Thames Valley Mini tournament of the season.

Slough combined their under-8 and under-10 squads to give the younger players a chance to test themselves against the best in Berkshire.

Henley, Wokingham and Reading all traveled with very strong squads, and each club entered a first and second team at Upton Court Park.

However, the hosts’ experimental approach left them too much to do against older and more experienced players.

The junior hockey programme follows a monthly schedule of three training weeks and then a competitive Thames Valley Mini tournament.

The tournaments are held monthly from October through to March, and the focus at Slough is the development of young players.

Slough have grown their junior section by 700 per cent in the last five years and continue to develop rapidly.

The club currently has squads at under-6 through to under-16, with an under-18 team set to be introduced next season.

Girls and boys are streamed into separate groups from under-12 onwards to align with the standard national structures.

On average, Slough acquire two new junior members every week and their success is growing rapidly.

It throws up some challenges as many youngsters are new to the game and therefore struggle in competitive tournaments.

However, it is a nice problem to have as most players will get a good grasp of the core skills within six weeks.

Thames Valley Mini tournaments are competitive although results are not recorded since the aim is to give children experience.

Despite losing all their matches, the Slough squads were in great spirits and thoroughly enjoyed the tournament.

Umar Ilyas and Molly Beer took the star player awards for the first team, and Rahul Bajwa and Safa Nasser for the second side.

Ilyas is the youngest player in the squads but has fantastic potential, full of skill and energy with a competitive attitude.

Having only started playing hockey three months ago, Ilyas is a natural and clearly heading for great things in hockey.

Around half of the Slough squad joined the club within the past six months.

Esher Thind and Bajwa are examples of recent joiners who have progressed quickly and starting to make a robust contribution.

In addition, Slough have some great players in Anna Salvadori, Nasser and Bir Panesar who have been involved for the past two years.

They can all master and control the game, and Panesar has a fantastic strike that many seniors would be proud of.

Beer has made the defensive role her own with great positioning and tackles.

Ibrahim Baig is a shot stopper and has made crucial saves. The role of goalkeeper appears to be his natural inclination.

Slough will have a squad to watch next season as they improve their skills and gain experience over the summer training period.

Slough under-8 and under-10 are coached by Chez Panesar, Jas Sandhu and Surjit Sandhu, who can boast almost eight decades of hockey experience between them.

The club are always looking to add to their coaching team, which is currently 16 strong, and welcome new players from as young as four.

FOR more information visit www.sloughhc.org.uk or e-mail Surjit Sandhu on SurjitSSandhu@hotmail.co.uk.

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