1897 - 2009
Colchester Hockey Club
More than 100 years of hockey in north Essex
Juniors
Colchester Hockey Club Juniors proudly sponsored by Hills Residential
STOP PRESS:
To read reports and see photos from the East Championships, click here.
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UNDER 12 BOYS QUALIFY FOR REGIONAL FINALS! (28 March) CONGRATULATIONS TO UNDER 12 GIRLS: THIRD PLACE IN ESSEX MINI CHAMPIONSHIPS!
UNDER 12 BOYS MINI CHAMPIONSHIPS
After the clocks had gone forward, an early trip to Redbridge and Ilford seemed far from ideal, though during the day the sacrifice of a lie-in seemed more and more worthwhile.
The campaign began with the Blue Hornets. Colchester were only able to show in parts the good hockey that would become more natural later. The final score of 8-0 was a huge disappointment, especially as Colchester had caused some problems. After some words from the side Colchester had to contend straight away with Old Loughtonians. It transpired that Colchester, who had feared the worse at push back were misguided. Colchester were a transformed team and played with belief and determination, showing gutsy defending and causing problems in attack. Injuries to both Keanan and Ben hindered our campaign but the result of 0-0 was a tribute to the effort and skill shown by the Colchester players. Old Loughts were less than happy with a draw, especially among the coaching staff and the huge parental support dominating the sidelines! This match turned out to be the only points that Old Loughts dropped all day.
After a rest Colchester faced Old Southendians, and played some good hockey to win a close match. Next saw Colchester face Brentwood, a team that were definitely beatable, however, luck was not on Colchester’s side. Despite playing some good hockey the post and a good keeper kept the score at 0-0.
Havering hockey club provided the next challenge and although Colchester were much the better side, we managed to make winning as hard as possible, but in the end managed to win 2-1.
It was now clear that Colchester stood a genuine chance of progressing to the regionals. All that was needed was four points from the last two games to pretty much guarantee progression.
However, against Chelmsford (a side who's name suggests that they were better than they were) Colchester struggled, and some defensive lapses left a two goal deficit to be overcome. This was achieved, however Chelmsford were then able to push forward and seal a 4-2 win, leaving Colchester very disappointed.
There was still a mathematical chance, assuming that other results went the right way, but a win against Maldon was needed. Under this pressure Colchester conceded early, but were quickly able to counter this. Unfortunately Maldon struck again, leaving a close finale. The boys worked hard and scored again. With only minutes on the clock the team powered forward again and a powerful shot on target injured the keeper. The central timing couldn’t be stopped and time was ticking away. The resulting short corner was awarded and the boys lined up for what was possibly their last attempt. As the ball was injected the central timing horn sounded and unfortunately for Colchester the Maldon umpire decided to end the game without allowing the corner to be played. The draw meant Colchester finished fourth, behind Chelmsford on goal difference.
However as the final positions were announced, Chelmsford HC admitted most honestly that they had in fact played three ineligible players and therefore were unable to take third spot and the place at the regional finals. Colchester were moved into third spot and will be going forward to represent Essex at the East finals on the 17th April in Norfolk.
Well done to all the boys: Joe Sheppard (GK), Keanan Woods, Ben Arulampulam, James Wickenden, James Tallentine, Jack Ager-Smith, Alex Cole and Charlie Fernandes.
A huge thank you and congratulations also to Ricky Elston their coach who managed to motivate a team of very disappointed boys after a heavy opening defeat and lead them to the regional finals.
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Report to follow for the U12 girls' tournament.
Photo © Gibbs
family
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ESSEX UNDER 10 GIRLS CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS (21 March)
Our Under 10 girls' team today finished as silver medalists in the Essex Under 10 Clubs Championships. The team played some fantastic hockey, beating Upminster A and B, Old Loughtonians and Blue Hornets into second place and only narrowly missing out to Chelmsford HC on the opportunity to represent Essex at the East Championships.
The girls, Katie Cook (GK), Ruby Blower (Captain), Meg Wall-Peters, Francesca Harley, Ellie Benfield, Fenella Stuart, Olivia Saleh, Rachel Harvey and Tilly Arulampulam played consistently well all day and were a credit to the club.
Congratulations
to all the girls!
Photos © Helen Wall
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Colchester Hockey Club has secured additional sponsorship from Hills Residential for the development of the Junior section. Hills Residential has a long association with Colchester Hockey Club and has sponsored the senior side for the last nine seasons.
Mersea Homes continues to sponsor the Senior side, stating: "We recognize that Colchester Hockey Club are the hockey leaders in N.E. Essex, and at Mersea Homes we are pleased to support a club who are progressive, and provide its playing members great opportunities from the senior sides down to junior levels. By running five men’s and three ladies’ senior teams on Saturdays, backed by regular midweek coaching sessions overseen by qualified coaches, there is a natural development programme to take the Club forwards.” Many of the U18s breaking into the senior teams came thorough the Sunday Junior sessions and the club looks forward to seeing that continue.
Mini hockey rules have been revised to include the new self-pass rule. Please re-acquaint yourself with the new rules at: http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/page.asp?section=74§ionTitle=Officiating
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Dates for your diary! The Suffolk Youth Leagues dates have been released!
This year there is a new format for the league. There will be mini festival days throughout the season where all teams travel to one venue and play each other. There are separate dates for different age groups. This will avoid cancellations and problems when teams drop out at the last minute. All the teams that turn up will play!
I am intending to enter two U9 teams and two U11 teams, so that all children will have the opportunity to play in these festivals and not have to wait their turn.
When there is an U9/U11 festival there will be no session at the Garrison between 10-11. The U13 session will run as normal between 11-12.30.
When there is an U13 festival there will be no session at the Garrison between 11-12.30. The U9/U11 session will run as normal between 10-11.
The dates for this season are:
Oct
11th - U9/U11 festival
Oct 18th - U13B/U13G festival
Nov 15th - U9/U11 festival
Nov 22nd - U13B/U13G festival
Dec 6th - slip date
Jan 31st - U13B/U13G festival
Feb 7th - U9/U11 festival
Feb 28th - U9/U11 festival
Mar 7th U13B/U13G festival
Mar 21st - slip date
Apr 25th End of Year Festival - (all age groups)
Please put them in your diary now! Venues will be announced shortly!
See you all on Sunday!
Helen
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Download the new 2009-10 Junior Membership form here.
Hi
all and welcome back to the start of a new season!
I hope you have all had a good summer and are now ready for the new hockey
season to start. So let’s get started!
First
session: Sunday 13th September
No sessions during half term: Sunday 25th October and Sunday 1st November
Last session: Sunday 13th December
First
session: Sunday 10th January
No sessions during half term: Sunday 14th February and Sunday 21st
February
No session on Easter Sunday: Sunday 4th April
Last session: Sunday 18th April
Sunday
Morning Training Groups and Times
Please work out your new Sunday morning training group and time. Please note that there is no overlap this year between the first and second sessions. If you are in the second group, please do not arrive much before 11.00 because you won’t be allowed on the pitch until the smaller players have vacated! The first session runs from 10.00 – 11.00; the second session from 11.00 – 12.30.
|
|
Sunday Training Age Group |
Time |
|
If you were born in 1997 |
Under 13s |
11.00 – 12.30 |
|
If you were born in 1998 (***) |
Under 12s |
11.00 – 12.30 |
|
If you were born in 1999 (***) |
Under 11s |
10.00 – 11.00 |
|
If you were born in 2000 |
Under 10s |
10.00 – 11.00 |
|
If you were born in 2001 |
Under 9s |
10.00 – 11.00 |
|
If you were born in 2002 |
Under 8s |
10.00 – 11.00 |
|
If you were born in 2003 |
Quicksticks |
10.00 – 11.00 |
Safety
issues arising from last season
·
All children must have a gum shield and
shin pads to be allowed to play on a Sunday morning. If your child comes
without, they will be unable to participate. We always have spare sticks
but for obvious reasons can’t keep spare gum shields!
If parents are staying to watch, we must ask you
to remain outside the pitch area and watch from the undercover area by the
training rooms. This is due to child protection issues. All adults on the
pitch must be police checked by the club. If you wish to help out on a
Sunday morning, help is always appreciated, but please be aware that we
will have to run safety checks first.
All children need to be signed in and signed
out of a session.
If you are leaving your child for the session, please ensure that:
-
You sign your child in at the start of the session
-
Your contact number on the sheet is correct and that you will be available on that number should the coaches need to contact you during the session
-
You return to collect your child from the pitch. Children are not allowed to meet parents on the road. While I can appreciate that it is much easier to pull up on the roadside, especially in bad weather, it is our duty to make sure all children are safely collected.
Coaches
and Contact Addresses
As you are probably aware my baby is due on September 11th so there is a chance that you won’t be seeing me at the very start of the season! I will however be in touch, and still contactable, by email and will be back very soon.
In the meantime, below are the contact details for the coaches in charge in my absence.
|
Helen Wall |
Junior Manager |
|
|
Wayne Masters |
Head Coach |
|
|
Richard Pink |
U13 & U12 Boys' Manager |
|
|
George Wright |
U13 & U12 Girls' Manager |
|
|
Nick Gibbs |
U11 & U10 Mixed Manager |
|
|
Helen Wall Emma Sanford |
U9 & U8 Mixed Managers |
Payment
and consent forms are this year being collected centrally by the Hockey
Club treasurer. You will receive by email a new consent form for
2009-2010. Please complete the form and send it back in the post to:
The form can also be downloaded at the top of this page. Please ensure you download the Junior membership form, and not the senior player form.
The consent form needs to be sent to the Treasurer with payment please before September 30th.
Costs
Costs remain the same as last season for the first session, but there is an increase of just £6 for the second session. This is to reflect the change in times and the addition of an extra half an hour of pitch time.
· For children born in 2003 or later, the cost is just one payment of £10. This reflects that younger players are not eligible for tournaments and so do not get access to a significant proportion of the season.
· For children attending between: 10.00 – 11.00: Cost for the year is £60 – or two payments of £30
· For children attending between: 11.00 – 12.30: Cost for the year is £72 – or two payments of £36
Payment can be made in advance as one cheque for the whole season, or may be paid in two installments. There is no difference in amount, just an option if parents would prefer to spread the cost.
If you are paying in two installments, the second cheque must be paid please before January 30th 2010.
Tournaments
I will post the dates for tournaments on the website as soon as I receive them from the league. We will also confirm which team you are eligible to play for when I get the league rules (i.e. whether Suffolk are coming in line with England Hockey and Essex Hockey and the cut off date will be Jan 1st for age groups, or whether the Suffolk league is remaining with academic years.)
The arrangements for playing in matches this year will be the same as for last year.
If
you wish to play in a tournament you must email your availability to me,
at least a week before: bedfordroad@talktalk.net
I will then make sure that everyone has an equal and fair opportunity to play in a tournament, and keep a list of reserves in case of illness or drop-out.
If we have too many players available, places will be given based on the following:
-
Ensure all children have a fair opportunity
-
Children have paid their membership fees
-
Attendance at training sessions
You will then receive a confirmation email with the team names and match times. Please make sure you check your emails!
Kit
Children can wear anything warm and suitable for Sunday morning sessions. There is no requirement to buy club kit. Please do ensure that your child has enough layers and gloves when the temperature drops!
However for tournaments players will need:
-
Navy bottoms (shorts, skorts or jogging bottoms)
-
White shirt
-
Red socks
If
you were interested in buying Colchester Hockey Club official kit, please
look at the kit page on the website.
There are
New
players
Welcome! Most of the information you will need is provided above, but a little bit extra…
If your child would like to try hockey, please feel free to come along any Sunday. Please introduce yourself and your child to the coaches, and we will make sure they are placed in the correct group.
We have sticks so please don’t go out and spend money until you are sure your child enjoys the game. Your child will however need a gum guard (JJB seems to be the cheapest at around £1.99) and some shin pads. Any trainer will do, again there is no need to spend money on astro-type trainers.
We would ask that you stay at the pitch side for your child’s first session if they are in the early group (10.00- 11.00) but we are happy for you to leave older players in the second group (11.00-12.30) if they are confident with that arrangement.
There is no charge for the first three sessions until your child decides whether or not they would like to play regularly. We would then ask you to complete the membership form and return your cheque to the club Treasurer as detailed in the cost section above.
Any questions that remain unanswered please feel free to email either myself or the coach for your child’s age group.
We look forward to meeting you soon,
Helen, Richard, George, Nick, Emma, Wayne, Charlie, Debbie, Ricky and Bob
The
Junior Coaching Team at
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