Craig McKee – Hockey in Sydney!

With Sport Lived’s fantastic hockey programmes you can experience the thrill of living in an amazing city on the other side of the world whilst playing the sport you love at a sociable, top quality club. This is an experience one of the participants on our hockey programme to Sydney, Craig McKee, will never forget, “Coming away to play hockey was the best experience of my life. I have met some incredible people and seen some amazing sights, and I wouldn’t have wanted to do it any other way.”

Craig played for one of the best clubs in Sydney during his time on the programme, “It has been the most welcoming, friendly and sociable club I have ever played for”, he says, “the standard of Hockey in Sydney is very high and the club as well as your team mates are always pushing you to improve and give 100% at every training and in every game you play. The best part of the hockey in Sydney is getting to play at the Olympic Park which is amazing when you are walking out onto the pitch from a proper dugout and looking up at a stand which is towering above you. Some of the teams in first grade even have Australian international hockey players in them and all of them have state players.”

The standard of hockey in Australia is something that Craig admits he wasn’t used to back home. With experience at school and a Midlands Division 1 club level, Craig decided he wanted to take the next step up and play for an overseas club, “Whilst looking on the internet I came across the Sport Lived website and this gave me everything I was looking for. The programme they enabled me to play hockey in a different country and also gave me the security of always having someone to talk to if I was worried or needed help with anything. This was perfect for me so the motivation to come on the programme came automatically.”

Craig lived with other Sport Lived participants in city centre apartments, “I couldn’t ask for anything more from Sport Lived, our apartments are 2 minutes walk away from the central station and two minutes from all the main backpacker bars. The accommodation is clean and modern with internet connection, TV and DVD player. It is the kind of place I hope to live in when I’m older!” The living arrangements meant Craig was able to socialise and enjoy the awesome nightlife in Sydney from the start with his flatmates as well as his club, “every night out in Sydney turns into something I will be talking about for the rest of my life”, he admits. He even managed to see more of this wonderfully diverse, beautiful country by travelling up the Gold Coast with his room mates during his spare time.

Craig felt welcome at his new club from the moment he arrived, “Every member of the club came and introduced themselves at the first training session and from then on have helped us with everything we’ve needed and made sure we know about every social event that was happening. This made my time in Sydney very easy and allowed me to have as much fun as I could from the start. The people at the club would do anything for you, I have made many lifelong friends here and they became my family whilst I was away from home.” As well as the support network offered by such a welcoming club, Craig was able to enjoy developing his hockey skills further, giving him a really positive sense of development on his return home, “Playing hockey in Sydney has helped me improve my skills dramatically through the excellent coaching and being able to train with the first grade players who help and encourage you through each session.” Of course the social scene has been very important too, “There have been so many different events such as pub crawls, trivia nights, karaoke nights and a pre-season hockey tour to Albury which was amazing”

If you are after a gap year like Craig’s that allows you to develop as a sportsperson as well as an individual, look no further than one of our unique Hockey programmes. We will cater for any ability and ensure you are matched with a club that best suits your needs, as well as providing fantastic accommodation and mentor support, on-hand whenever you need it.