Ben Fox scores at Copperbox, Olympic Park
England Hockey hosted the Jaffa Super-Sixes Men’s indoor hockey finals at the Olympic Park and one of the youngest players in the tournament, Eastbourne College pupil Ben Fox (just 17 years old), played for Sevenoaks. The top eight teams had been playing off over the Christmas period to earn a place in the finals. Ben played superbly scoring one of the four goals against Surbiton in the semi-finals but alas it wasn’t quite enough to see them into the final.
Ben continues to feature prominently on the hockey scene, playing for his school’s 1st XI under the watchful and experienced eye of his coach, Director of Hockey and ex-Olympian Rob Hill. He also plays for Sevenoaks 1st XI in the highest division of domestic hockey (Premier National League) and often finds himself marking a GB player.
Rob Hill, who has 40 caps for Great Britain and helped the GB team place sixth at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, says that, ‘Ben has a great balance of positional awareness, skill, sportsmanship and teamwork. The College’s consistent record of hockey achievement is down to players like Ben and a strong, supportive coaching and pastoral framework.’
In Year 10, Ben was selected to the U16 England training squad and earned six caps at that level playing against Germany and Belgium. He continued to represent his country and now, after a year recovering from a broken leg, has retained his place again, making it into the final U18 England squad of just 25 players. He will be travelling to Lilleshall, the national sports centre over half term to play in a series against Ireland.
Selection for Sevenoaks at the Men’s Super-Sixes indoor hockey finals (and scoring under pressure) is one more step in the right direction for Ben as he balances school with elite sport commitments. We wish him all the best and give him and his family our full support.
