Following a historic year for hockey at the school, Rydal Penrhos looks forward to welcoming Paul Whapham, CEO of Hockey Wales, as guest speaker for this year’s Senior Colours Awards. In this article, we explore how the new Welsh talent pathway has seen Rydal Penrhos pupils flourish on the pitch.
In September 2023, Hockey Wales introduced their new talent pathway. This was open to pupils already in the national hockey system, and any pupils nominated by their clubs and schools. As part of the changes, Wales was split into several ‘counties’, with Rydal Penrhos pupils largely falling into Eryri (which includes Anglesey, Gwynedd, Conwy).
Training took place at Eirias Park and Rydal Penrhos over the winter months. Numerous Rydal Penrhos pupils put in hours of county training, over and above their sports practice at school. This included: Year 8 pupil Ella; Year 9 pupils Gethin, Carys, Matha and Lexi; Year 10 pupils Charlotte and Lily; and Year 11 pupils Freddie, Jacob, Amelie, Fflur, Keira and Ceylin.
In recognition of his clear talent, Jacob was soon invited to trial as a goalkeeper for the national age group team. He has since gained his first cap for Wales; an immense achievement for the proficient shot stopper.
Former Conwy Young Sportsperson of the Year and Year 11 pupil Freddie MacLaverty had also achieved the highest honour of being considered for the Welsh Under 18s, and would have featured in the final squad, had the talented sailor not decided to focus his efforts on his water sport pursuits.
These were not the only successes. Gethin represented the U15 Eryri boys’ team, while Lily was appointed Captain of the U15 girls’ team, and travelled down with teammate Ella to the cluster matches and finals. Once there, their team beat Cardiff, Glamorgan Valleys and Gwent to gain the silver medal position in a closely contested final against South Coast.
In the U17 girls’ section, Amelie was chosen to captain the side. Alongside Kiera, Fflur and Charlotte, they travelled down to South Wales twice in February for cluster matches and the county finals. During the finals campaign, Eryri topped their group and went on to face a strong Cardiff team in a thrilling final to be crowned 2024 Welsh County Champions, bringing the Gold medal place back to Eryri.
Many of the pupils mentioned also went on to play in the final cluster matches at Eirias to finish the series. From this thrilling experience, Amelie, Fflur, Charlotte and Lily were selected to progress through to the next stage in the pathway and will attend the Regional Performance Centre in Wrexham over the coming months.
Congratulations to all our talented hockey stars, who continue to make us all immensely proud. We wish them the very best of luck in the future as they progress through their talent pathways.
