Guernsey Hockey Talent thanks Blue Islands for ongoing support

Last year local airline Blue Islands helped Guernsey-hockey talent Morgan Clayton try and achieve his dreams of playing for England by providing free baggage for his hockey goalkeeper kit as he attends the England Hockey Performance Centre in Southampton.

A few months on, Blue Islands caught up with Morgan to see how he was getting on – and it turns out he’s been very busy.

This year as well as learning new hockey skills with my coach from England Hockey, I've learned that living on an island can be really frustrating and tiring when you travel off-island to play sport. It also means you need to have a backup plan to continue to train when things get cancelled, and means you have to be very organised with school work.

January and February were very busy and I took 10 flights in just over two weeks. Sunday 21st January U14 Inter Insulars with Guernsey Hockey v Jersey, returned on Monday due to bad weather leaving Jersey Airport at lunchtime and then I had a very quick change around at Guernsey airport for a flight to attend my England Hockey Session on Monday evening. Returned to Guernsey the next day. Thursday 25 - 28 January we had a three-day Year 10 Hockey Tour with Elizabeth College to the north of England. We even managed a trip to Barrington Sports to purchase a new hockey stick.

Sunday 4th February U16 Guernsey Hockey U16 National Championships v Sevenoaks and Canterbury - despite losing both games we fought really hard. Wednesday 7th February National Schools Hockey Championship West of England Preliminary Round with Elizabeth College held at Canford School.

I've also signed up to a training programme with Andy Perkins from AP Performance to help improve my fitness off the pitch. This season's England Hockey training continues until August with various Cluster Competitions against other Performance Centres, and then it starts all over again in September.

I’d like to thank Blue Islands again for all the help they’ve given me, I’ve had to learn a lot and relished the challenge to do so. With any luck this be a key stepping stone as I strive to achieve my dream of taking to the hockey pitch representing my country.