Simon Archer - Head of Academy

Simon is the founder of the Oaklands Hockey Academy (2017). He is a specialist Hockey goalkeeper and player coach with over 20 years of experience.

He made history at Oaklands College as the coach of the first Academy team to win an AOC Nationals title achieved in their debut year without conceding a goal across 14 hours of tournament play. He describes it as “one of my proudest moments as a coach to date.”

Using a highly visual coaching style, Simon works across all levels, offering 1-to-1 sessions, small-group and team coaching for girls, boys, men, and women. He coaches both goalkeepers and outfield players, and firmly believes: “I will teach anyone who wants to learn and get better.”

Simon currently coaches England Colleges and England Masters. As a player, he has competed as an outfield player in the National League and Premier Division in both New Zealand and the UK. He represented Scotland at U18 level as an outfield player and played as a goalkeeper for the South-East of England regional squads at U14 and U16 levels.

Simon first became involved in hockey because both of his parents played, and his older sister needed someone to hit at leading him to start his journey in goal.