July 2013
Dear Members
I know it is July and you’re probably thinking about your summer holidays rather than hockey, but we wanted to get an early start for Hampton Hockey Club’s 2013/14 season preparations.
First, I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself, Lloyd Brammer, as I have been elected Chairman of the hockey section. I have been a member for about 18 years as a player and general supporter. Now three more of my family members also play. I’m really looking forward to working with the new committee to continue to take the club forward, following in the footsteps of many previous incumbents. Not least of these is Andy Woolford (“Andy Hampton!”) who is stepping down as Chairman after nine years in the role to focus on some other things so particular thanks to him. Andy leaves his role as Chairman with the club in a very strong position, especially in the junior section and I’m pleased he will continue to be junior coordinator for us.
There’s a lot of information to share in this letter, including details of our new committee, changes in membership processes and the start of season calendar. There will be more letters to come but we also intend to step up to the next level with our electronic communications by making the website more dynamic and using social media so you always have your preferred source available for information. I encourage you then to add https://www.hamptonhockey.org.uk/ to your browserfavourites and to find us on Twitter and Facebook. Oh, and we will also talk with you!
Before we get into the details though, I am very proud to be able to announce that our own head coach, Jon Doherty, has been awarded England Hockey Coach of the Season. Jon received the award last month in recognition of his commitment to player development, not just here at Hampton, where he runs such a successful junior set-up and coaches our league winning men’s 1st team, but also with Junior Development and Academy Centres. Congratulations to Jon, and please do share the news that Hampton is the place to be for top coaching!
Contents
1. Senior Hockey
2. Juniors
3. Coaching
4. Membership Processes and Fees
5. Kit
6. Key Dates
7. Committee
1. Senior Hockey
For the men’s section this season, Clive Forsythe will continue as men’s club captain and Jas Ghata-Aura is taking over as men’s 1st team captain. We’re looking for the 1st team to continue their progression in the Midlands league, with the other teams sustaining their league positions, supporting our philosophy of providing opportunities for younger players to play senior hockey alongside more experienced players. We’ve taken a look at the demographics of the men’s section and we’re pleased to be able to add a 5th team this season who will play in the same league as the 4th team. Four of the five captains will be new to their roles this season, and another new captain, Ian Herbert, has been appointed to run the men’s Masters team.
The ladies are entering a period of rebuilding under our new ladies’ club captain, Cindy Holmes, and 1st team captain Helen Bowles (formerly Barratt). Their philosophy is very much to re-establish the fun of playing, whilst continuing to be competitive at the right level, and not least stabilising the 1st team’s league position. We’ve decided this season to have the ladies’ 3rd team play friendly games against a number of clubs who wish to do the same. This gives us the flexibility to bring in new players and allow doubling up if necessary, without the pressure of league rules. This should give opportunities for many of those ladies who attended the “Back to Hockey” sessions we ran during the summer and plan to continue in September.
A reminder to all ladies playing league hockey that you need to provide a passport sized photograph to Jean or Cindy before the end of July for league identity cards.
Over the summer, senior hockey continues with summer league for men and ladies, along with an informal Thursday evening session for all seniors at 7:30 pm – all are welcome, so please come and play.
There are some common themes across both men’s and ladies’ sections that we will be focusing on this year:
· Increasing membership to support the number of teams we want to run and the competitive level at which we want to play
· Increased personal responsibility and commitment, particularly in availability and keeping captains informed well in advance, being responsive to selection emails and keeping information your information up to date in the club system
· Offering more opportunities, for young people in particular, to volunteer and take on club roles that will both help the club and help them develop as individuals
2. Juniors
Our junior section continues to go from strength to strength driven by Andy Woolford, Jon Doherty and Steve Bradley, supported by many other volunteers. We have significantly increased the number of coaches to support our juniors.
We will continue to run Badgers as before and Steve Jones has kindly agreed to alleviate Steve Bradley and take on the role of Badgers manager this season. Thanks very much to Brads for his commitment to a very successful Badgers programme over a number of years. But don’t worry, he’s not going anywhere and there are plenty of other opportunities for him to lend his skills.
Parents are very welcome to get involved and volunteer at the club in any way they can. The opportunities also including playing and we are providing a number of playing options for those that want to return to hockey or have never played before.
I encourage all juniors aged U13-U17 to register for the England Hockey Board single system by following links on the Warwickshire Hockey site here http://warwickshirecounty.pitchero.com/. This registration is required before attending a Junior Development Centre (JDC). JDCs are the first tier of coaching and playing and are organised by county hockey associations. They are open to players who wish to progress to higher levels of playing and players can attend the centres most local to them. There are more details about the centres on the website too.
3. Coaching
We believe we are one of the best coaching clubs in the area and to emphasise that I have added the role of Head Coach to the senior committee. Jon Doherty will continue to be head coach supported by Dafydd Bowles as deputy head coach, along with a number of experienced and newly qualified coach volunteers. We also have a specialist goalkeeping coach available who will run a number of specific sessions throughout the season.
Training sessions for the coming season will be as follows:
|
Day |
Start |
Finish |
Section |
Details |
Dates |
|
Tuesday |
6:30 PM |
8:00 PM |
Men |
Club Training |
Start September 3 |
|
Tuesday |
7:30 PM |
9:00 PM |
Ladies |
1st and 2nd Team |
Start September 3 |
|
Tuesday |
7:30 PM |
9:30 PM |
Men |
1st and 2nd Team |
Start September 3 |
|
Tuesday |
6:30 PM |
7:30 PM |
Ladies |
“Turn up and Play” Session |
September 3 – October 22 |
|
Thursday |
7:30 PM |
8:30 PM |
Senior |
“Turn up and Play” Session |
Ongoing, indefinite |
|
Sunday |
10:00 AM |
11:00 AM |
Junior |
U10/U12 (School Years 4/5, 6/7)* |
Start September 1 |
|
Sunday |
10:30 AM |
12:00 PM |
Junior |
U13, U14, U15, U16 (Years 8,9,10,11)* |
Start September 1 |
|
Sunday |
12:00 PM |
1:00 PM |
Ladies |
Back To Hockey |
September 1 – October 20 |
* Note that there is no strict requirement to be in any school year and any junior member may attend any of the sessions they, and the coaches, believe will be best suited for them.
While there isn’t any training during the summer, why not take a look at some of the brief training videos we’ve made available on our website? Ever wanted to drag flick as well as Dafydd? – well take a look here and see if you can learn! https://hamptonhockey.clubbuzz.co.uk/members/training
4. Membership
This year the Sports & Social Club, of which we are part, has introduced membership cards for over 18s which provide access to the club and guarantee discounted prices for alcoholic drinks at the bar. You can load these up with credit for your convenience. For last season’s members these are available from me, and are currently activated through to the end of September 2013. These activations will only be extended once your 2013/14 subscriptions are received.
We have managed to freeze membership fees again for this season and we are keeping the reduced new membership fee to encourage new members. We also have the “White Lion” membership which is for social membership for non-playing senior members and for those playing occasionally. The fees are as follows:
£160 full senior membership (over 18)
£ 85* junior membership (*£10 discount for each sibling)
£ 50 new members for 2013/14
£ 50 White Lion membership and for those playing occasionally
ALL FEES FOR CURRENT MEMBERS ARE DUE ON OR BEFORE SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2013.
We are holding Club Day (Membership Day) on August 31st and we will use this day to collect money and get your membership details up to date, as well as playing some hockey of course!
This year we are also introducing the ability to pay subscriptions electronically for those of you that wish to take advantage of this. We do not plan to issue paper forms for tracking payments or membership details, including medical information, this year and instead we’ll use the secure website exclusively for this information.
As ever, if you have reasons to want to make alternative arrangements for paying membership fees, please contact your section captain, Shawn Baker (Treasurer) or myself as early as you can.
Match fees will remain the same as last season: £6 – Seniors; £5 – Students over 18; £3 – Juniors
5. Kit
The club has worked over a number of years to standardise the playing kit and we plan to continue with the same kit. As a club all teams play in the same kit and it’s the club’s philosophy not to differentiate between teams with regard to kit.
We believe it’s important that teams look the part on the field so please ensure you have the right kit – green (home) or white (away) numbered Hampton shirt, black shorts or skirts (Hampton logoed shorts and skirts are available) and black socks with green tops (home) or white with green tops (away). Jean Scott-Miller (Club Secretary), will continue to be the point of contact for ordering kit and details can be found on our website. A wider range of tracksuits and hoodies is also available and you can see these at https://www.hamptonhockey.org.uk/hhckit
6. Key Dates
The club calendar on our website is kept up to date with all events and fixtures as they become known, so please get used to taking a look in the Members area’ for events and bulletins https://hamptonhockey.clubbuzz.co.uk/members
An early indication of some key dates is below to help with your planning.
|
31-Aug-13 |
Club and Membership Day |
|
21-Sep-13 |
Ladies’ 2nd Team League starts |
|
28-Sep-13 |
Ladies’ 1st Team League starts |
|
5-Oct-13 |
Men’s Leagues start |
7. Committee
Last, and not least, below is the list of people that have volunteered to support the club in a number of roles and I’d like to offer my thanks and congratulations to them for doing so.
|
Role |
Name |
Role |
Name |
|
Chairman |
Lloyd Brammer |
Head Coach |
Jon Doherty |
|
Ladies Club Captain |
Cindy Holmes |
Junior Coordinator |
Andy Woolford |
|
Men’s Club Captain |
Clive Forsythe |
Communications Officer |
Helen Bowles |
|
Treasurer |
Shawn Baker |
Clubs First and General |
Steve Bradley |
|
Secretary |
Jean Scott-Miller |
Social Secretary |
Warrick Laverick |
|
Fixtures Secretary |
Ian Herbert |
Umpire Coordinator |
George Skalka |
|
Deputy Head Coach |
Dafydd Bowles |
Webmaster |
Simon Ashton |
|
Welfare Officer |
Mike Clift |
Men’s Masters Captain |
Ian Herbert |
|
Ladies’ 1st Team Captain |
Helen Bowles |
Men’s 1st Team Captain |
Jas Ghata-Aura |
|
Ladies’ 2nd Team Captain |
Jean Scott-Miller |
Men’s 2nd Team Captain |
Luke Menzel |
|
Ladies’ 3rd Team Manager |
Lis Hedley |
Men’s 3rd Team Captain |
Tom Vining |
|
Mixed Captain |
Warrick Laverick |
Men’s 4th Team Captain |
Tbc |
|
Badgers Manager |
Steve Jones |
Men’s 5th Team Captain |
Bob Court |
In conclusion, I think we have a very strong hockey club at Hampton. Building on the promotion of the men’s 1st team, the very strong junior section, the rejuvenation of the ladies section and last, and definitely not least, a very strong social scene, we are looking forward to a great season.
In the meantime, watch out for more membership and other information as it comes out over the summer.
If you have any general questions, comments or ideas please feel free to contact me or any of the committee members by emailing [email protected] or calling 07840 082698.
Yours sincerely
Lloyd Brammer
Chairman