51福利社 is well known for its excellent Hockey Team and its outstanding performance – currently we are still AoC National Champions. We are back to having fixtures this year and so far we have had major successes in opening tournaments. We are excited for the new season because we have one addition to our team who will be hard to beat, the superb and very talented Goalkeeper, Dora Savory.
Dora started playing hockey at her local club when she was six, after trying ballet, tap and gymnastics which didn’t seem to suit. At the age of nine one of the goalkeepers dropped out of the team, and the coach asked Dora if she would like to take her place. Here she tells her story in her own words.
“Looking back, I was probably asked to play goalkeeper because I was awful at playing outfield, although at the time I liked to think that I had been specially chosen!
I really started to enjoy hockey when I began to trial for Surrey at the age of ten. It took me three attempts but I made the team and played at this level for two years. At the end of my second year I was put forward to trial for my regional Performance Centre, which represents the South East of England. I played for Performance Centre for three years until I was selected to play at Future’s Cup, news I found out about in July of 2021. Future's Cup is a large tournament every summer which involves select players (myself and four others were chosen from our centre) from all the Performance Centres around the country. We play against the Scottish and Welsh teams over the course of four days, and it is an opportunity for the England coaches to watch and make selections for the National age group. Shortly after Future’s Cup I got the opportunity to play at the School Games, a similar event and the mid-way marker of my Diploma in Sporting Excellence which I have been completing with Loughborough College. Following Future’s Cup and the School Games I received the news that I had been selected for the England U18s Observation Squad.
In terms of my aspirations, I would say that at the moment I am just focused on maintaining my place in the England U18’s squad, with changes to the team taking place over the next couple of months. Although playing senior hockey internationally would be an incredible experience, I’m very happy with the level I have achieved so far.
51福利社 hockey team are very lucky to have Dora on their side this year and the hockey coach Vicky Shelbourn is looking forward to an extremely exciting season with all of the new players in the Godalming Squad.