Young hockey players have toured South Africa as part of their pre-season training programme.

Following on from their national success at hockey this year, Felsted School players went on a South African adventure over the summer holidays.

They spent time learning about the history of the country, seeing the sights and having the opportunity to play hockey against different teams in a conew climate.

Team captain and England player Alex Went said: “The experiences that we had on the tour were once in a lifetime and visiting some of the poorest areas of the country was truly eye opening.”

The two trips of ten days involved 30 boys in July and 20 girls in August.

The young Felstedians experienced a cheetah and elephant sanctuary, an eagle encounter, African drumming, a game drive, Seal Island, whale spotting and some local attractions and delicacies.

As well as experiencing the beauty of Cape Point and Boulder Beach, the two groups took a humbling trip to the township of Langa where, despite poverty stricken conditions, they were welcomed in to teach young children at the local school how to play hockey.

The tour has served the girls well as they won their first fixture against a strong Stamford School side 6:2 at the weekend.