A former student of The Long Eaton School and successful hockey player has returned to the classroom to teach the sport to current pupils.
Beeston Hockey Club captain Gareth Griffiths left The Long Eaton School in 2017.
Now, after graduating from Nottingham Trent University and setting up his own education outreach business, he has returned to the school as a teacher, taking after school hockey clubs and term-time enrichment sessions focussed on sport.
“I know people don’t always want to go back to their old school but I had such a fantastic time when I was at Long Eaton, especially with PE,” he said.
Photo shows: Gareth Griffiths, former Long Eaton School student.
“The staff were really aware of my interests and helped and supported me. I definitely see this as an opportunity to now support other young people, especially with hockey.”
Gareth has already had an outstanding youth hockey career, playing for the GB U21s team while studying his BA (Hons) Education Studies and Special and Inclusive Education degree.
He is now captaining Beeston Hockey Club, one of the most successful in the country and has joined the Welsh national team, which he hopes to play for this year.
Gareth was introduced to the sport through his father but he is aware, for some young people, the sport is not always considered an option. That is something he wants to address through his work with The Long Eaton School and others.
“The perception of hockey is that it is seen as a private school sport and there may not be the opportunities for children in state schools,” he said. “I know when I was younger my friends were all interested in football but some of them gave hockey a go and we managed to beat other schools, including private ones, and win a major tournament.”
As well as returning to Long Eaton, Gareth is also teaching at several other schools in the Archway Learning Trust after setting up his business, Community Sport Outreach Programme.
He launched his business in March 2020, while still at university, but lockdown meant he had to deliver many of the sessions online.
“With Long Eaton and some of its feeder schools, I did online Zoom PE sessions, a bit like Joe Wicks I suppose!” said Gareth. “They were some of my first sessions. I also took an online hockey session – the school got extra hockey sticks for students but not everyone had one so a few people were learning the techniques with objects from around the home including sweeping brushes.”
Gareth is enjoying inspiring the next generation of athletes and has already set up the Beeston Flyerz section of Beeston Hockey Club for young people with special educational needs and disabilities, running weekly sessions.
And he has also partnered the club with charity Belong Nottingham who support migrant and refugee families in Nottingham.
Richard Peel, principal at The Long Eaton School, said it has been wonderful to welcome Gareth back onto their sports fields.
He said: “There is no greater inspiration for our pupils than to see their peers going on and being successful. Gareth is a talented sportsman and has played hockey at a really high level, so he is motivating our students to show that anything is possible.
“We are delighted to have him back in school and seeing the progress our pupils are making with hockey and sport more generally is brilliant.
“Obviously we were not able to run many of the after-school clubs over the last two years, so it is particularly pleasing to see extra-curricular sport being offered to our pupils once again.”
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For more information call Kirsty on 07970627385 or email [email protected]
