STOURPORT Hockey Club's junior head coach and men's first team captain said he loved the feeling of passing on his hockey-playing skills to youngsters.

Mark Moss, 26, of Prospect Road, Stourport, leads the club competitively as a player in the national league but is also an award-winning coach, who trains the juniors, the under-18s and the ladies' first team.

He said: "I love coaching. It is absolutely great to pass on to young players the knowledge I have gained and the things I am still learning."

He added: "Watching the faces of the juniors as they take part is very rewarding. If I see them smiling it makes me happy because I know they are enjoying playing."

He explained: "The idea is to make hockey fun so that children will stay in the sport and progress as players to the very highest level they are capable of."

Mr Moss said hockey was "vitally important" as a game which developed social skills and "built bridges" between children in Wyre Forest.

He added: "Stourport Hockey Club gives children the opportunity to play socially but also, with the coaching talent on hand at the club, the chance to reach the very highest level in the sport."

Mr Moss has helped nurture a wealth of young talent at the club, like the "amazing" 16-year-old, Chris Griffiths, who plays for Great Britain's under-20s team and Joel Dudley, who plays for the England under-16s.

He said: "Wyre Forest needs Stourport Hockey Club and needs the standard of coaching we provide on its doorstep.

"The club is getting stronger all the time. Our teams are becoming more and more successful and the adults are passing their knowledge on to the juniors so that we keep developing the young talent in the area."

He added it was "vitally important" that the equipment destroyed in the fire was replaced because more and more children were turning up for training.

He said: "Children can't play if we don't have the right equipment. At the moment, we are getting by but there is a real threat that we may have to turn children away."

Mr Moss was Wyre Forest coach of the year in 2007 and Worcestershire coach of the year in the same period. He was made an apprentice to the "elite" national hockey coaches and was shortlisted as a junior coach for Wales.