Hettie Whittington OBH 2016

“I started playing hockey in Year 3 at Barrow Hills and was strongly encouraged to join Guildford Hockey Club by my Mrs Burnett. BHS stretched me by inviting me to play with the girls’ Year 8 team when I was still in Year 5, and in Year 6 I also played with the boys’ team.

I moved to Surbiton High School in Year 7 on a hockey scholarship and was selected for Surrey at age 11. I played for Surrey for two years winning ‘Player of the Year’ and was then selected for the England Hockey Performance Centre in Year 9. Meanwhile, I played in the Schools’ Nationals Finals every year with my school team (winning two bronze medals, and three silver medals) and my club team. I was then asked to start training with the Guildford Ladies’ 1st team when I was 13 years old, and started playing matches regularly for them when I was 15. 

For Sixth Form, I stayed at Surbiton High where I became Captain for the 1st XI, but I moved club to play in the National League with Barnes, helping them to gain promotion to Division 1 South. In Lower Sixth, I was recruited by and committed to Yale University to play Division 1 field hockey in the United States starting in Fall 2023. In Upper Sixth, I was selected into the U18 England Hockey Squad and picked to travel to Holland and France to play teams such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, France and Wales. I am now a student-athlete at Yale getting a world-class education whilst training and competing at world-class facilities like a professional athlete.

My fondest memories of hockey at Barrow Hills are playing in tournaments with both the boys’ and girls’ teams. In particular, the day we played in a competition at Wellington and got to meet David Beckham! I also really value the relationships that I built with the PE staff who extended me and helped develop my passion for hockey.”