Hockey: The Big Dribble comes to Scots cities

HOCKEY’s answer to the Olympic Torch Relay gets under way tomorrow in Scotland, and one of the country’s most gifted players will be there to get it started.

The npower Big Dribble will visit 40 cities around the UK over 18 days to give people of all ages and abilities the chance to take part. Beginning in Edinburgh tomorrow morning, then moving to Glasgow in the afternoon before heading South, the venture will invite everyone to do their own hockey dribble with stick and ball for 100 metres. The aim is to set a record for dribbling hockey balls 2,012 kilometres across Britain, and raise money for WellChild, a national charity for sick children.

Scottish and Great Britain international Vikki Bunce will take part in both cities, and hopes that the Big Dribble, as well as raising funds for charity, will encourage people across the country to support Team GB at the Olympic Games. Bunce is in a 28-strong women’s squad, and faces an anxious wait before learning next month if she has made it into the final squad for the Games of just 16 players.

Being a member of the GB squad gives the Dundonian a chance of competing at the highest level, but has also necessitated some personal sacrifices. She has had to take leave from her job as a coach, and has had to leave her partner Iain Strachan and their three-year-old son Oscar behind in Scotland to join the team camp in the south of England.

She has returned at weekends, but her time is not all her own then, either. Today, for example, she will play for Dundee Wanderers in the Scottish Cup final. But, while the schedule is demanding, it has been made more manageable by the support of her employers, among many others.

“I work at the High School of Dundee as a hockey coach,” Bunce explained. “I love working with kids, and I love hockey, so it’s an ideal, job. The school have been really good and kept my job open while I’m with the Great Britain squad. I couldn’t ask for more from them.

“Team GB have had a centralised programme for the past two years as part of our preparation for the Olympics, and I’ve been in it since February. That has meant being with the rest of the squad, based at Bisham Abbey.

“There are 28 of us in contention for those 16 places, and we all just train as hard as we can. It will all come down to the coaches’ decision as to who makes it into the final squad, and we’ll just have to wait and find out at the end of May. It’s hard work, but like I said, my employers have been very supportive. And I like to think that I can give back to the school as well.”

Oscar, making the most of a chance to catch up with his mother, will be there, with his own hockey stick, to take part in the Big Dribble. Besides the aim of enthusing some very young children about hockey, the event also hopes to attract older people who may not have played the sport for some time, but fancy getting a stick in their hands again and setting off on a 100m dribble.

The events in Edinburgh and Glasgow city centres, will be easy to spot: a giant, eight-foot hockey ball will be a landmark. Everyone can also test their skills in the Cage Goal Scoring Challenge and at Giant Hockey Skittles, and to enter a competition to win an electric scooter.

The event is run by Great Britain Hockey, whose chief operating officer, Sally Munday, said: “The npower Big Dribble will arrive in Edinburgh and Glasgow allowing locals to experience a taste of one of the nation’s favourite team sports. Having a go couldn’t be easier. It’s great fun and no equipment or experience is necessary. Our vision is to capture the imagination of the public, to inspire people of all ages, backgrounds and sporting abilities to get involved in hockey.” The Big Dribble’s journey will end in Trafalgar Square, London, on 2 May.

lThe Big Dribble takes place tomorrow (Sun 15 April) in Festival Square, Edinburgh, from 9.30 to 11.30am, and then in George Square, Glasgow, from 2 to 4pm.