International Exhibition Hockey Match 2023 at Hartswood

Last week we saw another successful RGS International Exhibition match at Hartswood with visiting international hockey players supporting our boys’ and girls’ performance hockey programmes.  We welcomed seven current senior international hockey players from England, New Zealand and Scotland. They joined our performance boys’ and girls’ squads to create two all-star teams.

You can watch a short film about the event here.

Many thanks to the international players for their involvement which was a fantastic opportunity for our students.

Nick Bandurak

Natural born goal scorer Nick finished top scorer of the 2022 commonwealth games, helping England win a bronze medal. He is fresh back from India where he was representing England at the World Cup. His performances in an England shirt over the last few seasons have led to him winning Hockey Writers Club UK player of the year for two years running.

Hayden Phillips

Olympian (at aged 18) Hayden Phillips has over 100 New Zealand caps. The experienced midfielder has represented his country at a plethora of international competitions including an Olympics, two World Cups and two Commonwealth Games (winning a silver medal).

Rob Field

RGS Head of Hockey Development and now in his fifth year at the school, we are proud to have Mr Field at RGS. He is a current senior Scotland International and has represented Scotland in a number of international competitions including last summer’s Commonwealth Games.

Sam Taylor

A familiar face for many of our students, Mr Taylor joined the RGS coaching staff in October to work with our boys and girls hockey teams. He was delayed in starting due to representing GB in Malaysia at the Sultan of Johor competition in September, helping the team win Bronze. Mr Taylor is a formidable defender and has represented England in the Pro League on numerous occasions.

Tom Russell

Mr Russell has been a coach at RGS for the past two years, he is a creative forward and played a number of years in the premier league. Former England U21 captain he made the step up to the senior squad last February when he was invited to travel with them to Buenos Aries for Pro League games against Argentina.

Darcy Bourne

Darcy Bourne will be a familiar face for many of our pupils as she is a former RGS employee. She worked as a hockey coach at RGS for a year before being called up into the full time England Women’s squad. She has since been a mainstay in the England team playing in multiple Pro League games and the World Cup last year.

Sophie Hamilton

Sophie is currently the top scorer in the Vitality Women’s Premier League and has fired them to top spot in the league. Following on from playing in last year’s exhibition match Sophie has had a breakthrough year with the Senior England Ladies as she won Commonwealth Games gold and played in her first World Cup.