The University of Oxford Hockey Club is by member count the largest student sports club, fielding four men’s teams and four women’s teams at various levels in the BUCS and National Hockey leagues.
Over the course of 2026 I have attended training sessions, matches and photographed the Blues teams (the Mens and Womens 1st teams) in the studio.
Capturing not only the action on the field, but also the teamwork, camaraderie and friendship within these teams of student athletes, come rain or shine.
This attitude was probably best demonstrated during a torrential Thursday evening training session in mid January – in probably the wettest weather I have ever photographed in. The commitment to the sport despite the rigors of Oxford Academia really resonated with me – especially as it’s common for the teams to have games on both Wednesdays and Saturdays – sometimes requiring extensive travel.
Win or loss though it’s the team spirit which shines through, celebrating the victories together, or taking the defeats as a team, still smiling and laughing after putting it all out on the pitch. Credit also must be given to Coach Stephen who attends every training session, home and away game – including on his birthday!
Off the field I spent a morning at Merton College with Rosanna Chen, who’s played for the Women’s Blues since her first year at Oxford. A starting defensive player, Rosie is reading for a masters in mathematics, balancing a demanding academic schedule whilst still maintaining training and matchday commitments.
Hockey has been an integral part of my calendar throughout my time in Oxford: it allows me to switch off from work and instead focus on something totally different with a great group of teammates. I can’t imagine not having played hockey here: I’ve made friends for life while playing this high level of sport, and it’s given me exposure to even more people’s areas of interest than just my college.
The biggest myth would be that it’s too big of a time commitment – while there is a lot between the training, gym sessions, matches, and coaching, I think that I have become more efficient and effective within my degree because of, rather than despite, all the hockey! Having set session times forces me to be more organised and proactive which in turn has given my life here more structure and so helps me keep on top of everything.
It wouldn’t be a photography blog if I didn’t touch upon the more technical aspects of photographing Hockey. Having only photographed a handful of hockey matches and the most recent of those being in 2015 I had a little bit of learning to do!
With an unfamiliar pitch and an unfamiliar game it’s hard to know where to begin! The first consideration was where to position myself around the pitch to get the best action shots, still remaining in touching distance from the sideline and keeping out of the firing line of the ball!
Composition was hard to keep deliberate with such a fast moving game, but I found keeping the camera as low to the ground as possible made for a great canvas – with foreground leading into the action – and the players standing out against the background, rather than overlapping the pitch. I did also experiment with some longer shutter speeds – as slow as 1/20s in some cases with mixed results – More practice needed!
Rain or shine I’ve enjoyed every minute photographing the Hockey Club this year – the fast paced action, teamwork and overall love for the game the players have is just a joy to watch and capture! I look forward to capturing more hockey moments as and when the opportunities arise!
