Hockey Inner City: Community Hockey, Managed With Teamo

Hockey Inner City (HiC) was founded in 2018 by Rhys Smith as an after-school club at Immanuel St Andrews Primary School in Streatham. Its purpose was simple: to give children access to hockey when they might not otherwise have had the opportunity.

Rhys’ own experience helped shape that mission. Having attended a state primary school in Streatham, he was only introduced to hockey after joining Whitgift in Year 6. Hockey Inner City was created to help more young people discover the sport at an earlier age, particularly children from backgrounds that have traditionally been underrepresented in hockey.

Since then, HiC has grown into a community-led programme combining hockey coaching, education, volunteering and pathways into clubs and schools. While Rhys has now stepped away from the organisation, the programme continues through the commitment of its parents and coaches, supported through its partnership with UCL. Together, they are continuing to provide opportunities for children who might not otherwise get the chance to play hockey.

This community-led approach remains at the heart of HiC, with parents, coaches and volunteers playing an important role in ensuring the programme continues to give young people the opportunity to discover and enjoy hockey.

Gitte explained that Hockey Inner City exists to make hockey available to children who may not encounter it through school, family or existing club networks. The programme particularly focuses on removing financial, cultural and practical barriers to participation.

At the time of a Lambeth Council grant application, Hockey Inner City recorded 59% diversity among its participants. Gitte said the grant information cited 71% of children in Lambeth as being from non-white British backgrounds, while England Hockey had 5% diversity at that time.

The programme has helped young people move into clubs including Wimbledon, Wayfarers, Tulse Hill, Spencer and Epsom. Gitte also said that around seven or eight children connected with Hockey Inner City are now at private schools on scholarships.

Hockey Inner City is not solely about sport. Gitte described how the programme uses hockey to introduce families and children to wider educational opportunities.

The group has visited UCL, Epsom College and Oxford University. At Oxford, participants trained with the university team and attended classes. These visits are intended to show children and parents that sport can sit alongside education and can create pathways into further opportunities.

Gitte noted that some families may see education and sport as competing priorities. Hockey Inner City’s approach is to show that sport can support discipline, belonging and organisation, rather than distract from academic progress.

Before using Teamo, Hockey Inner City managed attendance on paper and used WhatsApp groups for parent communication. Gitte said this created administrative pressure, particularly around attendance records, communication and payment chasing.

The need for reliable attendance records was especially important for safeguarding. Gitte recalled one evening when floodlights went out during a winter session with 60 children on the pitch. Having participant information accessible through Teamo made it easier to make sure children got off the pitch safely.

Gitte described Teamo as an “information hub” for the organisation. It has helped centralise parent communication, attendance, volunteer coordination and player information.

The key benefits she identified were:

• Coaches can quickly mark attendance.
• RSVPs help coaches plan sessions.
• Multiple administrators can access the same information.
• Parent and volunteer communication is kept in one place.
• Safeguarding and medical information is easier to access.
• The group can organise sessions, matches, tournaments and trips through the platform.
• Less manual admin helps reduce volunteer burnout.

Hockey Inner City structures its teams by school year rather than traditional age-group labels, because Gitte said this is clearer for its families. She valued the flexibility to set the programme up in the way that works for the organisation.