Hockey club urges youngsters to pick up a stick

A hockey club has launched a new initiative to encourage primary and secondary school pupils to get involved in the sport.

Bury St Edmunds Hockey Club in Suffolk has launched Bury Larks, offering coaching and support in skills such as dribbling, tackling and positioning.

The Larks train at Nowton Park on Tuesday nights and there are plans to add Thursday night sessions throughout the summer.

"We want more kids playing hockey, whether they are from private schools or state schools," said Emily Denney from the club.

"We want everyone to have the opportunity to play.

"Here at Nowton Park, where we've revived the pitch, we feel like it's the perfect environment to get some more people on the pitch and show everyone the sport that we love."

Youngsters aged seven to 15 have been encouraged to seek out free taster sessions before deciding if they would like to take part in the training on a more regular basis.

Ms Denney is fronting the scheme, building on her previous role as captain of the women's 6s side and her current role as a regular player for the women's 5s.

She only picked up a hockey stick for the first time herself a little over two years ago and was quick to reassure anybody who might doubt their ability to learn the game.

"I'm not a good hockey player - I play in one of our lower teams - but I love the sport and you can play it at any level; you don't need to be fantastic," she said.

But she said the club did have a "pathway" to support players who wanted to "shoot for the stars".

Getting Bury Larks up and running has taken a club-wide effort, and Ms Denney has has been supported by a number of people including her fiance Finn Sullivan, the men's club captain, and Harry Reidy, a coach in the men's first team set-up.

Mr Reidy believes the scheme is indicative of the family atmosphere at the club.

"Everyone wants to pitch in and help, from the under-eights and under-six level right through to the first team," he said.

"Everybody puts in their penny's worth and it just makes it so much easier for the higher ups to give us all roles and let us run with it."

Mr Sullivan is also looking forward to seeing the players develop and is equally pleased to see the facilities at Nowton Park revitalised.

"We're working with England Hockey to try and increase the use of the pitch here. Lots of hockey clubs have lost their pitches and they've been converted into 3G pitches," he said.

"Here, the council are trying to buck that trend and really invest in this pitch to keep hockey being played in Bury."

Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.