Worldwide Sports Tours

Sir William Perkins’s School from Surrey returned from a successful 7
day hockey tour to Spain where they played several competitive matches
against the finest hockey clubs from Terrassa.   Their other opponents
included the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona which boasts some of the best
facilities in Europe.  The group were based in the quiet coastal resort of Castelldefels and during their stay visited the Olympic Stadium & Museum, Camp Nou, Park Güell and spent time exploring La Rambla.

We arranged a traditional 'tapas' lunch and the two girl's squads also took part in
a training session lead by former Spanish international and current Atlètic Terrassa HC defender Andreu Enrich.

After their successful tour in 2008, Brentwood School from Essex returned to Cyprusswith two netball sides to compete against the schools on the British forces bases.  During their stay the group visited Argonaftis Donkey Farm, enjoyed a trip to Space Bowling and made full use of the netball facilities at their hotel in Limassol. The school is now looking forward to their annual netball and hockey tour to Barbados with us in October.

‘The tour went extremely smoothly and we felt supported both in England and Cyprus’ Sue Knowles (Tour Leader)

Route: Cape Town - Oudtshoorn - George - Plettenberg Bay - Hermanus

Francis Holland School from London raised an astonishing R44,900
before embarking on their sports tour to South Africa.  The money was
donated to the Fisantekraal Township which is located just outside Cape
Town and will be used for the many ongoing projects in the Fisantekraal
community.

The pupils and staff were given a walking tour of the Township and also
one of the local educational facilities – Trevor Manuel Primary School. 
This gave the group an exceptional insight into the daily runnings and life
within a township.   The day ended perfectly with a netball fixture against
the school children, which was a hard fought battle against a mixed ability
team.

Not only did the school play several other netball and hockey fixtures
along the Garden Route but they managed to fit in plenty of exciting
excursions which included trips to Table Mountain, Robben Island,
Bufflesdrift Game Drive, Knysna Elepehant Park and whale watching
in Hermanus.

‘You've all certainly made the most out of the money we raised for the
township and we are really thankful that a difference has been made. 
It's great to see the fruits of all our fundraising endeavours and I will
put some of these photos onto our school website where the girls can
all see where their fundraising efforts have resulted in.  Also, thank you
once again for a wonderful tour to South Africa!'
Jane Tucker (Tour Leader and Head of PE)

South Africa is host of the annual Cape Town U18 International
Schools/Clubs Hockey Festival Now in its 9th year the festival has grown
from strength to strength and has become the highlight on sporting calendars
for local and international teams.  Please contact us to enquire about next
years festival.

Route: Stellenbosch - Cape Town - Oudtshoorn - Hermanus

Sevenoaks School from Kent returned triumphant following their 17
day tour of South Africa.  The two girls’ hockey teams spent the first leg
of their trip in Stellenbosch where they trained daily at the University
hockey complex, they also took part in a tour of the Van Ryn Brandy Distillery
and visited the Cheetah Outreach at Spier Wine Estate. The teams
pre festival warm up fixtures saw them compete against Somerset College
who also participated in this years tournament.

After the short transfer to Cape Town the touring party visited Robben Island
where South Africa's first democratic President, Nelson Mandela was previously imprisoned. The following day the group were given a tour of the Fisantekraal Township before their second set of fixtures against Edgemead School in
preperation for the Cape Town U18 International Schools/Clubs Hockey Festival

The two teams produced some great performances during the festival,
the 1st XI had convincing wins over Oakhill School (SA) and NSW Bush
Rangers Golden Thunderbolts (AU) finishing a very respectable 8th in the
overall standings.

On their rest day before the final round of festival matches the group
visited Cape Point (part of the Table Mountain National Park), Hout Bay,
Chapman's Peak and Boulders Beach which is home to a colony of
African penguins.

Other highlights included an afternoon game drive at Buffelsdrift Game
Reserve which is set in the foothills of the Swartberg Mountains, a full
day tour of the Cango Caves and Cango Wildlife ranch and also some
whale watching in Hermanus which has the status of being the best
land-based whale watching destination in the world.

'We decided to book with Sporting Destinations again following our
experience on previous tours to Barbados and St Lucia. The staff are reliable, helpful and easy going. South Africa was another brilliant trip!'
Liz Joseph & Astria Nairn (Tour Leaders)

42 teams from Barbados (30), Trinidad & Tobago (7), United States (2), Canada (1), England (1) and Switzerland (1) assembled for a colourful opening ceremony as the 26th Banks Hockey Festival got under way at the Banks Sports Club on Sunday 21st August, 2011. This years matches were played at the Kensington Oval, Police Sports Club and the Banks Sports Club.  

The event which began back in 1986 is the islands biggest sports tourism product and involves Men's, Ladies, Mixed and Veterans teams. Matches are played over a 6 day period which include the survival plate knock-outs and festival finals.

Sporting Destinations organised the travel arrangements for Team Hoff, a mixed hockey side from Surrey who are pictured joining in with the dancing routine of the popular 'Mother Sally' (top) and the acrobatics of the Barbados Green Monkey (middle) at the opening ceremony. Team Hoff, who were the only entrants from the UK lined up alongside Du Badd Crew (B'dos), Old Gold Roosters (B'dos), T&T Police (Trinidad) and Banks SC/BDF (B’dos) in Pool C (Mixed).

Team Hoff finished 4th in their pool with 1 victory, 1 draw and 2 losses. Group winners from Pool C were Du Badd Crew.

The 26th edition also welcomed its first ever competitors from Switzerland, The Flying Hoppers who took part in the men’s veteran division.  Trinidad & Tobago Defence Force (TTDF) are the festival’s most prolific tourists and they returned for their 21st visit seeking their first silverware in both the men’s and veterans’ division.

All Stars held off Queens Park Cricket Club (Trinidad) to lift the 2011 men’s title, after a close fought encounter, the Bajans 3-2 victory follows on from their last feat in 2008. Elsewhere, Mount Gay Maple comfortably beat Queens Park CC to become veteran’s champions whilst Sentry Security Rockets’ mixed squad beat Dominion on penalties after a tense 2-2 draw.  The women’s final saw ABC overcame Old Gold Roosters 3-0 in a penalty the shootout to claim their seventh title!

Final results:

Men
All Stars (B'dos) 3
Queens Park Cricket Club (Trinidad) 2

Veterans
Mount Gay Maple (B'dos) 5
Queen’s Park Cricket Club (Trinidad) 0

Mixed
Sentry Security Rockets (B'dos) 2
Dominion (B'dos) 2
(Rockets won 3-1 on penalty strokes)

Women
A Bed Connection (B'dos) 2
Old Gold Roosters (B'dos) 2
(ABC won 3-0 on penalty strokes)

Activities during the week included a talent evening/masquerade party, karaoke & barbecue, cruise on-board the Black Pearl, beach party & games at Brandons Beach, Wesiers on the Bay and a festival dinner which was held at Divi Southwinds Hotel, St. Lawrence Gap where teams enjoyed the plenty of Barbadian hospitality!

To request further information or to make a booking for next years festival please click here.  

Future tour reports will appear here...