Sporty Sophie hit the hockey field earlier this week, visiting athletes with England Hockey and GB Hockey on a visit in Marlow.
At the Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre, the Duchess of Edinburgh arrived just in time to watch the senior men’s squad training session, where she met with some team members and the head coach, Zak Jones.
After posing for a team picture and watching a bit of practice, Sophie met with members of the senior women’s squad and to shoot on goalie Miriam Pritchard.
England Hockey wrote about Sophie’s visit on their website, and shared how the royal learned about the men’s squad’s “upcoming tournaments as well as the importance of hockey in state schools, plus the fantastic work clubs are doing to provide relationships between local schools and the hockey community.”
In a video shared on England Hockey’s social media, athletes shared what they spoke about with Sophie. All agreed that it had been exciting to meet her, to talk about her own hockey experiences, and to chat about the upcoming programming and events for the teams.
Pritchard chuckled as she said: “She snuck a few past me.”
Sophie told the women’s squad members that it had been a few years since she last played hockey, but on a previous visit to Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre in 2014, she recalled her love of the sport.
“I always really enjoyed playing hockey,” Sophie said. “It’s so much more than just a team sport. Hockey has a great social side and is a thoroughly enjoyable game to both play and watch.”
England Hockey’s President, Alex Danson-Bennett, spoke to Hello! magazine about Sophie’s visit, saying that it had been “an absolute pleasure” to host the royal, and that it had been “fantastic for her to spend time with both our men’s and women’s squads and to take part in a hockey session with them. We appreciate her ongoing support and look forward to hosting her again in the future.”
