Young Reporter - Boadicea Cannon
By Boadicea Cannon
At a summer camp we put our names down for cricket but liked hockey much more! My twin and I thought that hockey is a game to play together and we could play outside on the street too. I think that the best memories are playing with boys and girls together. We joined a local club when we started getting serious.
We were scouted in Year 5 at a summer camp at ten years old. We were awarded sports scholarships at Kingston Grammar School in Surrey because of our commitment and talent in hockey. Sports scholarships are transformative. What does that mean? Well, this means life changing. Not only have been allowed to play sport at school, it allows us to tour around the country. Famous Olympians attended as pupils and it is the fifth most successful school for sport. There’s a large wooden board with names written in gold when you represent your country or become an Olympian. Isn’t that amazing? We had to work really hard on spelling, writing and maths but as twins we worked together to pass the academic tests. We had to talk about ourselves and how as Old Kingstonians we would give back to our community, country and even the world.
So what happened next? We entered the England Hockey player pathway, we then progressed to the county standard then played hockey against other children across the south. We then entered a huge competition in Nottingham and were selected to play with other boys and girls adoring hockey all over the country, even Northern Ireland. Unfortunately during this time, my twin started to limp. He became very unhappy. He winced a lot in pain. Can you believe it? He had a growth in his leg bone. After an operation, lots of physical therapy and a whole year out he is now back and happy. You see, as well as being my twin brother, he’s my best friend and training partner and his illness affected my hockey too. However, I was selected to go to the All England trials in July and play in the Challenge Cup. I met up with all the other lovely boys and girls, I have met all around the country. We are all friends now. Guess what? Although, I was the youngest on the squad, I captained my county, which is Kent. I played three days. We stayed in Nottingham University, in our own rooms as if we were real students. After a long process, I was selected along with around fifty other girls to attend the England hockey training camp. Unbelievably, six years to the day I started to play hockey at a multi-sports camp, I received my first set of England Hockey call up papers.
Thank you to our Young Reporter for this fantastic article.
