A hockey club and a school in west Suffolk have entered into a landmark partnership agreement to develop and nurture talented young players.

Sudbury Hockey Club has joined forces with Thomas Gainsborough School, which has also affiliated to England Hockey, the national governing body for the sport.

The aim of the agreement is to encourage all parties involved to work together to promote both indoor and outdoor hockey.

The school, which is due to be bulldozed and replaced with a new high-tech four storey facility over the next 18 months, will adopt hockey as a main sport.

The club, meanwhile, will help the school by developing a sustainable coaching programme supported by a team of qualified coaches.

Sudbury Hockey Club has a long term agreement to use the school’s artificial pitch as its home ground. According to club development officer Jim Carnegie, the new partnership will introduce hockey to all age groups in the school. He said: “Thomas Gainsborough School already has a strong hockey presence but is looking to improve on this.

“The school and the club will work closely together to produce competitive teams of all ages, thus making more sporting opportunities for young people and creating a conveyor belt of players to augment numbers at the club.”

Part of the agreement is to combine the joint club and school expertise to support the local school games organiser in taking hockey into primary schools.

Mr Carnegie added: “It’s a bit of a landmark that hockey has now become one of the biggest sports in one of the biggest schools in the area.

“As far as we are aware, this partnership is the first deal of its kind, certainly in Suffolk.”