Leicester Hockey Club (Mens Teams)

With effect from August 2010 the club is offering another opportunity to its members to broaden their hockey experience by entering a team into the Leicestershire Mixed Hockey League (see www.leicesterhockey.co.uk ).

The Mixed League is celebrating 60 years in 2010 and is probably unique with Leicestershire being the only county to run 4 divisions of mixed hockey alongside the single-sex leagues.

Although some club members have turned out for a variety of mixed teams over the years, the intention was to have our own team based at LGS. However, setting-up a brand new mixed team would have meant finding half a dozen lady players and at least 3 seasons of promotion battles before we could hope to reach the first division.  Fortunately, we have managed to overcome that issue thanks to a number of our players who have recently played for Leicester Mixed Hockey Club at Oadby.  With a full complement of ladies but needing to find some additional male players, both clubs could see the logic of Leicester Mixed HC merging with us to become Leicester HC Mixed.

Leicester Mixed was formed in 1997 from the old LCC team and has remained in the 1st Division ever since; winning 3 league titles in that time; so we can only hope that this infusion of new blood will help to secure a fourth title at some point.

The Club committee is keen for members to support the mixed team and there is no reason why players should not play mixed in addition to their regular league games if they are fit enough and the relevant team captain is consulted first.  Anyone wanting to play for the mixed team, even if only on an occasional basis, should therefore check with their team captain and then register their interest by contacting Graham Wolloff g.wolloff@ukonline.co.uk or 07710 359 734.  Any club members who are already registered with a different mixed club are encouraged to consider switching to Leicester Mixed but there is no compulsion to do so.  

Please contact Neil Murray or Graham Wolloff if you have any other queries about this.

We shall be providing opportunities to play hockey for 10 weeks as follows:

• Tuesday 7.15-8.45 starting April 27th, water-based and indoor
• Thursday 6.00-8.00 starting April 29th, water-based and indoor
• Sunday 10.00-12.00 starting May 2nd, water-based, sand-based and indoor.

Participation requires that you are a current member of Leicester Hockey Club or have permission to attend as a member of the School (of appropriate age and standard). If you are not attending the School or not one of the regular 50 ‘primary attendees on Sundays’ the charge will be £3 per week irrespective of how many days in that week you attend.

The Summer Hockey Plan 2010 is directed by Neil Murray. He has played for Ireland at every age group level including the national team. His first full international match was a record 8-1 win for Ireland against Belgium. Neil has experience of playing and coaching up to a national league standard and currently plays for the Club, the Ireland Masters Team and the Midlands Masters Team.

In partnership with Leicester Grammar School, Leicester Hockey Club (Men) plan to run a 10 week Summer Term Project, beginning on April 21, which has two aims:

• to provide opportunities for boys (years 9-13 of a suitable standard) from Leicester Grammar School to play matches
• to provide opportunities for the Leicester Hockey Club members to play hockey and begin preparing the 5 Club teams for next season

Participants are invited to book with Neil Murray by email at:

murrayn@leicestergrammar.org.uk

Every Tuesday and Thursday the outdoor and indoor matches will begin at 7 (warm-up starts at 6.30). Matches will take place on the water-based pitch or in the sports hall. The new additions to the rules of hockey will apply. Each evening at least 22 players can be allocated to the outdoor matches and 18 to the indoor.

The cost per match is £5 for adults and £3 for students payable on the day. There is no charge for Leicester Grammar students although they must be of a sufficient standard to be deemed safe playing men’s hockey.

Additional coaching is available to Summer Term Project participants on Sunday mornings from 10-12 for those who wish to further improve their skills at no extra cost.

Coaching specifically for boys of school years 6-8 is available on the water-based pitch after school on a Tues from 4-5.

Leicester Hockey Club (Men) have a formal agreement with Leicester Grammar School. We have some of the best hockey facilities in the UK with the Pavilion changing rooms and catering, water-based pitch, sand-based pitch and indoor sports-hall. A ClubsFirst accredited structure supports the five senior teams, the vets and the extensive junior provision.

Leicester Hockey Club welcomes new members. This initiative will be followed by regular coaching and matches throughout the summer.

Leicester Hockey Club (Men) are now based at Leicester Grammar

We have some of the best hockey facilities in the UK with the Pavilion changing rooms and catering, water-based pitch, sand-based pitch and indoor sports-hall.  With a ClubsFirst accredited structure to support the five senior teams, the vets and the junior provision.  All the training and match times for each group next term are now in place:

• Tues after school 4.00-5.00 for year 7s and year 8s (+invited year 6s);
• Tues evening outdoor 7.30-9.30 for 1s and 2s;
• Tues evening outdoor 7.30-9.00 for 3s and 4s;
• Tues evening indoor 7.00-9.00 for invited juniors (u14-u18);
• Thurs after school indoor 5.15-6.15 for invited year 7s and year 8s;
• Thurs evenings indoor 6.30-7.30, 7.45-8.45 for selected county core skills participants;
• Sunday 10-12 indoor junior training for invited u11s and u13s;
• Sunday 10-12 outdoor junior training for u14s-u18s.

Prospective participants should book the term in advance with me.  If you simply drop in I may request you simply watch the hockey.  Email Neil Murray at murrayn@leicestergrammar.org.uk. 

Coaching

We have increased our coaching resource as a club by supporting 10 new Level 1 coaches this season.  This will allow us to distinguish our hockey provision by nominating each junior to be part of a squad with a particular coach.  Coaches can now expect some funding from the club.  We have a number of target tournaments in mind.

Junior members, parents and prospective junior members

The aim of the junior coaching is to develop the senior players of the future.  Many players at the club receive invites to guest for other clubs, please note that by attending Leicester training we expect priority if we require you for a tournament.  There is a membership form and appropriate fee for each squad.

Five Mens League Teams

The current strategy is for 2 flagship teams to have 3 supporting squads each with a mix of experience and youth.  A number of our teams are near or at the top of their leagues.  We continue to expect players to support the club by playing where requested.

Umpiring

Next term I would like to run a Level 1 umpires course on a Sunday.  We must aim to treat umpires with the utmost respect.  Any players who share their opinion while on the pitch with an umpire in any given week should be made to umpire the following week.

Vets and VPs

We have a thriving vets squad and are just beginning to rediscover some of our VPs!

New website                       http://leicesterhockeyclub.co.uk/

Regards,

Neil.

It’s with great sadness that we have to inform everyone that one of our former members, Chris Johnson (CJ) passed away on the 24th of May. As most of you will know CJ had been battling with cancer for a long period now and had already had to have his leg amputated. He passed away in his sleep in the morning of the 24th.

CJ played for the club for two years including the 2004-5 and the 2005-6 seasons whilst he was studying at Demontfort University. During that time he played for both the first and second team and was an enthusiastic and committed player. He was also a talented player who had great potential. Everyone who played with CJ will be in agreement that it was an enjoyable experience to play along side him as he was always up for a laugh. He had a great sense of humour and will be missed by everyone who knew him. Our condolences go out to CJ’s family.

The club is preparing a charity event in honour of CJ for the beginning of the season; details will be on the website.

Presidents day – 6 April 2008

The format will be as previous years. A morning for the juniors and the afternoon for the seniors. It will be a 7-a-side.

AGM – 16 April 2008

The AGM will be held at the Old Crown pub in Wigston. We need everyone to attend as we will be discussing our move to Leicester Grammar School (Great Glen), next season.

Congratulations to our all conquering third team. After their victory on Sunday, 17 February, they are officially the champions of their division and will be promoted to East Midlands Div 1 next season.

The next goal for this season is to score a hundred goals and they are 4 short with 2 games to go. There season had only on blip and that was a draw to a strengthened Daventry side.

Well done to all involved with the team and may they have similar success next season.

Our pre Christmas social event will be held on 17 November 2007 at the EMEB Cricket Club. It will be from 7.30pm.

All friends and family are welcome and the more we are the merrier it will be. Please confirm with team captains the numbers that will be joining us.

Summer is here

The club is fielding one side and supplying some senior players to help South Leicester’s juniors perform in this years summer league. The league will start on Tuesday 8th of May.

Any players interested in playing, please contact either Nigel Connelly (Email: nigel.comley@wagtech.co.uk) or Neil Murray(Email: ni.murray@virgin.net). This season we intend to get the junior/young players some game time in preperation for the forthcoming season.

The AGM is to be held on 19 April 2007 at 19H30.

This year the AGM will be held at the Old Crown’s function hall. The Old Crown is in Wigston on Moat street.
We would like to encourage as many of the players and their parents to attend the meeting as we would like to discuss all the areas that affect the club, especially the selection of office bearers.