It’s been well documented in recent times that many of today’s youngsters need to exercise more and eat less.

It’s a message that has been repeated over and over by experts in health and education, not to mention the Government.

While some politicians will jump on any bandwagon to curry favour, of course, this is one message that really does need to be hammered home.

At Cirencester Hockey Club, they are certainly playing their part in getting kids off the settee and into sport.

The club have a thriving junior set-up with 250 members signed on.

And on a Saturday morning anything from 100 to 180 of them can turn up for training at the club’s base at Deer Park School.

The junior section was established in 1993 by Ian Harvey, who still coaches the under-8s.

“It started with the children of the senior players,” said club chairman Paul Anstee. “We had about 20 in those days and it has just grown from there.”

Harvey’s son David was one of the players in that initial group and is one of a number of players who have come through the Cirencester system and gone on to play at a good level.

“He played for the county at under-14 and under-15 level and also for the West of England,” said Anstee, who was a national league player with Gloucester City himself in yesteryear.

“He went on to play for Sheffield University and Sheffield, and these days is playing in Geneva.”

He’s not the only player to have gone on to play at a higher level either.

“Daniel Jackson moved to Cheltenham and is now playing for England Under-21s,” said Anstee. “He’s at Exeter University at the moment but he started with us when he was eight. And his brother Robbie plays for Cheltenham.”

Others who have shown their skills on a bigger stage include Ben Miller (Gloucester City), Jamie Miller (Gloucester and Stourport), Tom Pinnegar (England U21s and Stourport), Mike Kelly (Cheltenham), Steve Kelly (Surbiton and Wales squad), Tom Groombridge (England U18s and Richmond), Hamish Brady (Cheltenham), Liam Brown (Sheffield Hallam), Charlie Partridge (Great Britain Colleges), Tom Svensson (Cheltenham and Great Britain Colleges) and Ollie Jones (Cheltenham).

“The junior section of the club is very, very successful because of the dedication of the volunteers who have really taken it a very long way from when it began,” said Anstee.

“There is also a clear appetite among local primary school age children to play more hockey and a lot of the senior players help with the coaching.”

And it’s not just individually talented players that the club produce – they have also had some successful teams over the years.

“The biggest achievement was by our under-12 girls in 2015,” said Anstee. “They reached the national finals and got all the way through to the semi-finals where they were knocked out in the last second.

“And they’d beaten the team who went to win the competition in the pool stage.

“We currently have six girls at Performance Centre level – that’s one below England trials.

“And in terms of last season – as a barometer of our current health for the under-10s and under-12s – all four teams qualified from the County Cup for the regional tournament with two as champions.”

Many of the youngsters – boys and girls – feed into the club’s senior teams, of which there are plenty.

“We’ve got four men’s teams and four ladies’ teams,” said Anstee, who is coaching the ladies’ 1sts this season after looking after the men’s premier side in 2016/17. “We’ve also got a veterans’ team.”

But while the club are in a very healthy state, as is always the case there are still things that could be improved.

“We have an excellent relationship with Deer Park School,” said Anstee. “They’ve made some big investments and we’re playing on a new astro pitch this season.

“But we’ve only got one pitch and we need two pitches to accommodate everyone who wants to play hockey in Cirencester. Build them and then the kids and their parents and hence more volunteers will come.”

It’s a big ask, of course, but if anyone can make it happen it’s Anstee and his merry band of volunteers.