I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Whilst it is very much holiday season, the new season is coming around again terrifyingly fast and will be with us before we know it, and probably before those holiday tans have faded. Since I last wrote there have been some changes to tell you about in terms of hockey and club management.

After many years of service as Club Captain and, latterly, Chairperson, Dave Catchpole is stepping away from the management committee to take a well earned break. It is difficult to comprehend the time and effort Dave has committed to the club over the last few years and it is safe to say the great position the club is in today is due in no small part to Dave’s efforts over those years. Alfie and Amy are both also stepping away from their roles. Both have contributed huge amounts in their various roles over the last few years. Amy has transformed our social media presence and profile and Alfie has helped put the club into a healthy position commercially; building relationships with a number of commercial partners. Both of them are also promotion winning captains. All three depart with our thanks and I hope very much that in time they will return to the committee in some capacity.

Since the AGM I have taken over as Chairperson and I am pleased to confirm Brant Chapman as the new President and Steve Smith as the new commercial director, both excellent additions to the management committee.

On the hockey side, Jonty is stepping down from coaching the men’s 1s to focus on youth coaching and development. I am delighted to confirm that Alan Lindsay has been appointed men’s coaching coordinator and men’s 1s and 2s coach. Billy is to continue to coach the ladies 1s and 2s and Sam Durdle has been appointed as ladies’ coaching coordinator and will also continue to coach the ladies 3s and 4s. Great progress was made last year with the re-introduction of u14 hockey (with our u14 girls team going unbeaten all season) and recruitment meaning our numbers have started grow rapidly from 5 years old all the way up through the age ranges. This year we are adding an u8 team, to be over seen by Henry O’Killl, to ensure our youngsters are getting as much involvement as possible.

I am also delighted to welcome Rianna Hughes to the commercial committee as events coordinator and Will Head as facilities manager. Both important roles and I look forward to working with them both.

I am sorry that I do have some sad news to deliver in that I was informed of the death of Sam Weller earlier in the year. Sam was a member of the club for a number of years and loved his hockey. Our condolences go to his family but also our thanks as they have made a very generous donation to the club in Sam’s name. The donation is being put towards the pitch square/pitch replacement fund and we are delighted to be able to remember Sam in that way.

Anyone who has been to the club over the summer will have seen that the mid-summer club clean up day worked wonders and the facility is looking great. Thanks to those who gave up their time- including notably a number of younger members who helped out. We are planning another clean up day to get the club ready for the new season on Sunday 1 September. It would be great to get as many people down to the club as possible. Last year saw a huge effort and the club looked great as a result. I will publish a list of the jobs that need doing nearer the time but currently we are looking at cleaning, painting, weeding and possibly a little bit of tree surgery. If you have tools and the time it would be great to see you down there. We’ll open the bar as an incentive and thanks to those who can make it.

A couple of points were raised at the AGM for the committee to consider (the main ones being around the appointment of captains, umpiring and enabling better access to the Clubhouse for those with impaired mobility) and discussions about those issues have already begun about how we can best address those issues. You will hopefully have already seen the flyer about an upcoming umpiring course at Chelmsford and I would commend anyone thinking of or interested in getting involved as an umpire to sign up. Let’s face it, we all think we’d make great umpires when we don’t have the whistle in our hands. Prove yourself right and give it a go! On all the issues raised we will keep you informed of progress and let you know how those points are to be addressed as soon as we can. We are also finalising the dates of the social events for the season and will send out those dates as soon as we can so people can put them in their diaries.

All that remains is to wish everyone luck with however everyone is preparing for the new season and, as ever, I hope to see you at the club soon.

Tom Cawcutt
Chairperson