Released: 02.06.09

The 8th Plymouth Primary Schools Mixed Hockey Festival is ready for push off this Thursday with 60 teams ready to battle it out over the two day competition. Held at UCP Marjon on Thursday 4 and Friday 5 of June nearly 600 young players from across Plymouth, East Cornwall and West Devon will compete in the festival for three different titles. Alongside the matches players will also take part in a team and individual skills challenge competition and will be involved in two new activities, creative writing and creative art. Linked to the RELAYS project the event aims to inspire young people through sport to realise their sporting and creative talents.

This year the young people will be producing some catchy creative pieces of writing about sport with the support of Lampo Education. The second new development will see around 300 people involved in producing a piece of creative human art under the direction of Stiltskin Creative Arts and Theatre Company.Ben Blundy Plymouth Hockey Development Officer  said “we are very proud of this event as it gives every player a chance to gain something from the festival. It is more than just a tournament with so much else going on over the two days”. Organised by the PHDG in partnership with UCP Marjon the Festival is the pinnacle to another busy year in which the group has coached over 6,000 youngsters in over 70 schools from across the City and surrounding districts.  

This years special guest former GB Hockey Olympian Calum Giles will be attending the event to promote the game and inspire the young players to develop their skills and raise aspirations.UCP Marjon Sport Development Manager Jamie Oxley said “The festival is a fantastic occasion for all those involved especially the primary pupils and young volunteers. It is a wonderful way to end a busy year for everyone involved in developing the game in the city. The whole event is a big team affair with support from all the local hockey clubs and in particular Students from UCP Marjon and pupils from Plymouth Schools. Over 60 volunteers will be supporting this year’s festival from umpires as young at 13 through to parents and members from city clubs illustrating the true family nature of the sport.