Surbiton Hockey Club Launches Fyerz The Surbiton Flyerz journey began when Surbiton Hockey Club had the honour of being the first British Hockey Club to host the EuroHockey Club Cup in May 2018. This had previously been focused predominantly on elitist sport, and it wasn’t until Jo Brown’s diligent search for inclusivity that this was about to change. Jo reached out to the existing Flyerz clubs to hear about their experiences and the positive impacts it had on their lives, which is when she knew that the community had to grow immediately within Surbiton Hockey Club. The stars aligned when Jo realized the EuroHockey Club Cup coincided with Flyerz week, a weeklong national Flyerz awareness campaign. This was the perfect opportunity to incorporate Flyerz within the tournament and sure enough, they had a competitive, fun and fully inclusive ParaHockey Day played between Flyerz and ParaHockey teams from all around Europe, including Spain, Germany and Belarus! Since May, Jo has passionately and thoughtfully been planning the Surbiton Flyerz launch for the start of the autumn 2018 season. Prior to their launch, Access Sport delivered a disability inclusion training to 12 Surbiton Flyerz volunteers. It was a day filled with a lot of enthusiasm, teamwork, learning and fun. The volunteers were able to go into the first Flyerz session feeling more confident and even more excited! Surbiton have now officially launched two Flyerz programmes, including a weekly Monday session in association with St. John’s School, and a monthly session hosted at the club. Starting only this month, the club have so already reached 13 young disabled people and their families through a love of hockey, and this number is only set to grow. Their first club session welcomed 5 young disabled people and almost double the amount of volunteers, all of mixed abilities, all playing hockey together. Jo described this as truly heart-warming, noting that her favourite part of the session was seeing how much both the players and the parents loved and appreciated the long-awaited provision for a sport they could all participate in, including their siblings! Here’s what one parent had to say about their experience at Flyerz: “Both my disabled son and his able-bodied brother absolutely loved Flyerz at Surbiton. The staff were fantastic, they were so friendly and adapted the games and equipment so that my disabled son could participate which was awesome as he doesn’t often get the chance to do the same activities as his brother. Everyone at the club was so welcoming and our whole family had a great time”. Surbiton’s enthusiastic and committed efforts to provide opportunities in hockey for all are truly inspiring. They’re passion and drive shown in everything they do, offering all they can to give everyone a chance to be active, make friends and be part of a team- or better yet, a Flyerz family. “If you’re brand new to hockey or you’re looking to make friends and be active, or even both, then Surbiton Flyerz is ideal for you!” Sessions are free, fun, friendly, supportive and fully inclusive. Open to anyone 5 years old to 99 regardless of disability and ability. Equipment is included and siblings and families are welcome as well. If you are interested in learning more about Surbiton HC Flyerz sessions including dates and times, please contact: [email protected] If we only change one person’s life in a positive way through this programme it is worth it. But I believe we will change a huge amount more. - Jo Brown Session Details: Mondays; 11:30-12:30 St Johns School Epsom Road Leatherhead KT22 8SP First Sunday of Every Month; 4:30-5:30 Surbiton Hockey Club Sugden Road Thames Ditton KT7 0AE