In 2015, the GB and England Hockey Manager Andy Halliday, who is an Ambassador for Access Sport and Hockey for Heroes, as well as a St Albans HC member, called a meeting asking for volunteers to help launch a new disabled section within the club. Following a successful pilot programme involving pupils from Oaklands College’s Landmark and Springfield SEND groups, the St Albans Flyerz were born. “We are part of the club, and lots of our Flyerz volunteers are from the club - players, coaches, children and parents. They always have a great time helping to coach the Flyerz and they join in our games. Everybody comes away smiling,” says Simon Gould, a Flyerz coach.

Since then, the Flyerz have expanded to include children and young adults from not just St Albans, but all of the surrounding area. “There has been so much support for our Flyerz, from within the club, including its benefactors and sponsors, and additional support from Access Sport who provided free training for coaches and other support while we were setting up. We were also extremely creative in sourcing and adapting equipment, for example by running a ‘stick amnesty’ and other schemes at the club and this has allowed us to keep the sessions completely free of charge for every participant,” says Itziar Olaberria, another coach.

The Flyerz train during the hockey season, which runs from September to April, once every fortnight on a Sunday morning. When the weather gets cold, they go into the sports hall at Marlborough Science Academy where it’s warm and they can practise their skills in comfort. “At the end of these indoor sessions we switch to lightweight sticks and a foam ball and have a very free-flowing match which is great fun for all,” says Simon Bloxham, a long-term Flyerz parent who enjoyed Flyerz so much he joined the coaching team!

And charities such as Remap, which designs and manufactures custom-made equipment to help people with disabilities live more independent lives, kindly designed a grip so that one of the players, Charlie, could hold his stick more easily. Charlie says, "Having my stick adapted has made it much easier for me to push myself, whilst playing hockey, so I don't have to rely on anyone else.”

The annual SAHC junior club day tournament sees the Flyerz team shine in competition against the rest of the junior club members. Spare wheelchairs are offered to able-bodied players to experience playing with a disability, which Gould claims has helped hugely to “break down barriers within the club”. Charlie says, "I really enjoy playing hockey, being part of a team and Flyerz is a lot of fun. One of my favourite days was club day as we played against the other teams in the club and did really well."

Already, Flyerz has reached out to nearby SEND schools and units, including running introductory sessions to hockey and sharing their love of the sport. Gould hopes that in the future they will be able to run more of these sessions. “They’re great fun, not only for the participants, but for the coaches to run.”

In the future, Flyerz’ main aim is to expand. “We’d love to have even more volunteer coaches, members from within the hockey club getting involved, but also new participants from outside the club who want to try playing the sport,” says Emma Geddes, another club member who has recently joined the Flyerz setup.