Stamford student plays for England Hockey in Netherlands series

Stamford School student Eddie Harper represented England U18 boys’ hockey in a three match international test series against the Netherlands over the Easter weekend. This series was Eddie’s second international tournament after competing against Ireland at Lilleshall in February.England Hockey took a squad of 20 U18 players to compete in a series of three matches, with Eddie being selected for all three. The team produced some strong results with the matches resulting in a draw, a defeat and then finally a well-deserved win for the England boys’ team - a brilliant result against a very strong hockey nation.Stamford Endowed Schools’ Director of Sport and Performance, Mark Nasey commented: ‘It is such an incredible achievement to see Eddie competing on an international stage, it speaks volumes for his perseverance, commitment and drive for self-improvement. We are all very proud of him at Stamford and look forward to following the next step of his England hockey journey.Eddie’s parents said: ‘Since joining Stamford School as a sports scholar, the staff have continued to support Ed whilst he’s being playing club hockey for Cambridge City Men’s 1^st team and nurtured his development to the England U18 team.’ Eddies father noted in particular that; ‘their strength and conditioning programme has provided structured guidance giving Ed the physical resilience to manage the highs and lows of higher-level performance sport.’Eddie has also recently attended an U21 training camp, as an advance taster for the next stage of his England pathway.Eddie’s training at U18 will continue with the England squad over the summer ahead of selection for a sequence of international series against Scotland, Germany and Belgium.