Cambridge City Hockey Club and England youth international Tom Spreckley eager to build on successful season

It would be understandable if there was at least a smattering of imposter syndrome lingering within Tom Spreckley’s psyche.

After all, there will not have been many 16-year-olds featuring week in and week out in last season’s Men’s Hockey League Division One North, coming up against some of the sport’s established names with each passing game.

And yet Spreckley – now aged 17 – has so far thrived in the colours of Cambridge City.

He joined the Wilberforce Road club just more than 12 months ago from his hometown side Letchworth with the aim of being a regular second-team player looking to gain some experience with the seniors if and when the opportunity arose.

But he ended up being a near ever present in Grant Gilmour’s first team – and it also alerted the attention of the England selectors.

“I decided to push myself and join a bigger club with better players,” he said. “I went in there expecting to play in the twos, get a bit of experience with them and depending on how that went maybe get some sort of experience with the ones.

“The twos were in the same league as Letchworth I, so I was hoping the transition would be pretty simple and I could settle in before trying to push for the ones if possible.

“But I think I only played one game for the twos and the rest were all for the ones. It all went against what I was expecting but in the best way possible.

“It’s a massive jump but you slowly get used to it. At Letchworth we’d only train once a week but then I went to Cambridge and it’s training twice a week with players at a higher standard.

“It did take a while to get used to, but the coaching really helped me.”

Truth be told the move to City provided the mentally strong teenager with the type of environment he craved.

After working his way through the ranks at Letchworth, Spreckley missed out in the trials to make the England Under-16 squad.

It served as a wake up call, convincing the centre-back that he needed to link up with higher-league players to bolster his hopes of earning international recognition.

And it paid dividends as Spreckley impressed in the Futures Cup – an event set up for the brightest young hockey talents in the country – before coming through an England Under-18 selection process that involved an estimated 80 players.

He said: “It’s the people around you (at Cambridge City). With Letchworth it’s more players that have played at that level and are coming down.

“Maybe they’ve started a family and they wanted to have a good balance between social life, hockey and family life.

“At Cambridge there are still some elements of that but it’s more younger players trying to push themselves and be one of the best in the league.

“It’s a mindset thing more than ability. There are players at Letchworth that could play for Cambridge but it wasn’t really their mentality, they don’t really want to do it.

“Being around people that wanted to push themselves was where I needed to be at this point in time.

“When I got called up for the Futures Cup I started to think what if? Maybe I could get selected for England so I started to look at other clubs where I could push myself.

“From the Futures Cup I got taken through to England observation. It’s a big training squad with around 80 people and from there that’s when I decided I had to push myself and move to Cambridge.

“I didn’t want to get five years down the line and wonder what might have happened if I hadn’t made the move.

“I took the plunge, went to Cambridge and halfway through the season I got the chance to try out for the England Under-18s and made the squad. Moving to Cambridge City was the be all and end all of what has gone on to happen.”

Spreckley will go into the 2022/23 season on the back of a positive summer with England Under-18s, one in which he wore the captain’s armband, scored three times and helped the team to go unbeaten at the European Championships before finishing fifth.

And as was the case in his debut campaign with City, Spreckley had to dig deep within his mental reserves to be at his best.

“There are so many people there (at the trials) and everyone is going to have talent,” he said.

“It’s about what else do you have apart from talent. They’re observing you on the pitch but they’re also observing you off the pitch. How do you integrate with people?

“Do you take on board what they’re saying to you? It’s a mentality thing.

“There might be more talented players but you can bridge that by having the right mentality.”

“I’d like to think that’s (mentality) one of my strong points. I’m not the most naturally gifted player and there are players that have been playing much longer than me, but I do everything off the pitch right.

“My mentality is one of my strengths in whatever I do, whether it be at Cambridge, England or school hockey and any environment I might be put in to.”

Alongside working towards earning himself another year with England Under-18s – trials are now under way – Spreckley is also determined to further establish himself within the ranks at City.

He was an unknown entity upon joining, but this time around he feels more of a key player.

Spreckley, who will be studying for his A-levels this year at Hitchin Boys’ School, said: “It’s looking positive.

“We’ve had quite a few players come in and the coach Grant has stayed on.

“He’s created a positive atmosphere around the team with the new players, everyone is getting on, so it’s looking bright.

“I want to make sure I play well enough to get some good game time but hopefully I can be one of the key players.

“I was there last year and so I’d like to help the new players settle in and create a good culture on and off the pitch

“Everyone is in the squad for a reason. There are some players that are well established and have been there for five years or so, but I feel more sure of my place this year than last year after the feedback from Grant on my performances.

“I’d like to think I’ve got a good place in the team but everyone is in there to do a job and I’ve got mine.”