West Herts Hockey Club ran the England Hockey Leadership Award for the second year running on Saturday, with the aim of developing the hockey and leadership skills of their young players.

The course encompassed presentations, videos, discussion, coaching and umpiring on the field before those skills were put into practice on the pitch. The England Hockey Leadership Award is aimed at players at 13 plus and is seen as a first step into volunteering.

In the last two years West Herts’ youth section has grown from roughly 70 members to 175 with players from across Hertfordshire. It is imperative, therefore, that the club recruit volunteers to run the section and the award is a big part of that.

West Herts plan to run the award again next year.