Leicestershire played six gruelling 20 minute 11-a-side matches with the results as follows:

The one defeat was against eventual winners Warwickshire, the physically smaller Leicestershire players being over-powered by the physical strength, and no little skill, of their opponents. Leicestershire were awarded several short corners, none of which resulted in a goal threat.

Leicestershire finished third out of seven teams, behind Nottinghamshire and the winners Warwickshire.

Squad (Leicester Hockey Club players in bold):

Ethan Smith (GK),  Ketan Deogan (GK), Aneesh Deogan, Ben Jefferson, Benjamin Newcombe, Daniel Wolloff, Amar Chudasama, Eddie Robinson, Aaron Patel, Saajan Patel, Sam Moorhouse, Ruben Smalley-Kaspruk, Harry Antill, Rohan Bhuhi (C), Patrick Gubb, Isaac Garner

The round-robin pool matches started with a match against Harleston Magpies. The city boys started slowly and found themselves two goals down early in the match. However, they got stronger as the game went on and found the net twice, through Rohan Bhuhi and Ben Jefferson, but lost the match 4-2.

The improvement in the latter stages of the previous match was carried through into the next match, against Yorkshire side Thirk. This was a competitive affair with Leicester creating several scoring opportunities but only winning 1-0 thanks to an Aaron Patel strike.

The winning momentum continued into the third match against Guildford when Leicester produced some scintillating hockey to run out 4-2 winners against strong opposition. The goals came through Aaron Patel, Ben Jefferson and two from Rohan Bhuhi, the second of which was a stunning reverse stick shot into the top corner of the goal after a trademark dribble.

Leicester went into the final match with a chance of finishing top of the group. To achieve this they had to beat Team Bath Buccaneers, who had a 100% record from their earlier matches. The contest was a high quality match with Leicester’s skill against Bath’s all-round strength. There were scoring opportunities at both ends and either side could have won. In the end, a solitary Rohan Bhuhi goal was not enough in a 3-1 defeat to the eventual tournament winners. This left Leicester sweating on other results to see if they were to finish second in the group and contest a medal position.

At the completion of the pool stages Leicester found themselves in third place and therefore progressing to the 5^th/6^th play-off against Airedale from the North region. Leicester got off to a flying start taking an early two goal lead with goals from Ben Jefferson and Saajan Patel. Airedale fought back with goals of their own and a third goal from Rohan Bhuhi resulted in a 3-3 score line at full-time. The tie meant that penalty strokes would decide the final classification. Airedale won the shoot-out 3-1 to claim fifth place leaving Leicester in sixth.

Coach Harvinder Bhuhi said after the tournament, “To be in the top six U12 teams in the country is a great achievement. The boys have shown that they belong amongst the elite in their age group and, if they continue on their current development path, their future will be very exciting”.

Team: Senna Patel, Rohan Bhuhi (C), Ethan Smith (GK), Daniel Wolloff, Aaron Patel, Ben Newcombe, Sam Moorhouse, Amar Chudasama, Ben Jefferson, Saajan Patel.

Final Standings: 1st Team Bath Buccaneers, 2nd Avalon, 3rd (joint) Oxford Hawks and Harleston Magpies, 5th Airedale, 6th LEICESTER, 7th Guildford, 8th Beeston, 9th Old Loughtonians, 10th Thirsk.

How others reported the day:

http://www.thirskhockeyclub.org.uk/blog/under-12-boys-national-finals-day/

http://www.teambath.com/2012/05/12/match-report-hockey-in2hockey-club-u12-championship-national-finals/

http://www.magpies-hockey.co.uk/2012/05/mikes-mini-musings-14-may-2012.html

http://www.airedalehockey.co.uk/index.php/juniorresults

Black Shirts: Ethan Smith (GK), Senna Patel, Saajan Patel, Sam Moorhouse, Rohan Bhuhi, Ben Newcombe, Ben Jefferson, Tom Moorhouse, Noah Wood.

White Shirts: Sam Standish (GK), George Toolan, Ruben Smalley-Kaspruk, Amar Chudasama, Aaron Patel, Daniel Wolloff, Ethan Pittham, Parmveer Ragi, Max Ellis, Luke Cartwright.

The teams played a round-robin contest between six teams. The Black Shirts won the tournament with a 100% record of results:

(v) Ashby W 6-0, (v) Leicester White Shirts W 7-0, (v) South Leicester W 5-0, (v) Lutterworth W 6-0, (v) Belper W 4-3.

After a string of comfortable victories the outcome of the event went to the last game. An excellent game of hockey produced some end-to-end action with Leicester holding out for a 4-3 win to claim the tournament trophy.

The White Shirts had a mixture of results including a 1-1 draw against Ashby, 0-1 defeat against Belper, a 0-7 defeat against the other Leicester squad and 2-0 wins over Lutterworth and South Leicester.

Black Shirts P 5 W 5 D 0 L 0 F 28 A 3 (Position: Winners)

White Shirts P 5 W 2 D 1 L 2 F 5 A 9 (Position: 3rd)

April 22nd: Leicester U10′s travelled to Milton Keynes to compete in their annual hockey tournament.

First match up was Milton Keynes B with Leicester attacking from the start. Tom Moorhouse set up  Ethan Pittham for the first of his incredible six goals in the opening match! Tom and Hephizabah Smalley-Kaspruk joined in with the scoring to round off an 8-0 victory.

In the second match, the team faced Northampton. After a slow start, Tom broke through with two quick goals before the floodgates opened; goals from Ethan, Will and another  from Tom completed the scoring. Leicester won the match 7-0.

Next up was a tough game against early pacesetters Milton Keynes A. All the defending skills of Anna and Will were called into play, and debut goalkeeper Jaimin Metcalf  made a great  contribution to keeping a clean sheet. Leicester scored near the final whistle to break the hearts of the home crowd with Tom dribbling around the defence and slotting into the corner for a 1-0 win.

In the final match, Leicester played against Bedford knowing a win would seal the title. Against another tough opponent, Tom scored the first goal and Ethan added two more to complete a 3-0 victory and, with it, the title.

U10 Final squad and scorers: Tom M (8 goals), Ethan P (9), Hephizabah (2), Will R (1), Jaimin M, Caitlin P, Anna C.

Team Manager: David Hill

Under 10: Winning Team

 Under 12s put up good show

Late player withdrawals from the Under 12 team meant a call up to U10 goalkeeper Jaimin, who had earlier helped the U10 team to win their category.

In the first match two goals from Senna Patel gave Leicester a 2-0 win.

A 2-2 draw against Milton Keynes was next up with Luke Cartwright and Parmveer Ragi scoring their first goals for the team. The team created several chances but failed to capitalise and were duly punished as the opposition snatched a last minute equaliser.

In the third match, Luke and Senna were on target for Leicester in a 2-3 defeat against eventual tournament winners Northampton. Once again, there were encouraging performances from all the players but lost out on this occasion.

Leicester were pushed into third place by Milton Keynes on goals scored.

Final placings: 1st Northampton, 2nd MKHC, 3rd Leicester, 4th Bedford

Manager Rajinder Ragi said afterwards, “Overall I was delighted with the way the team played. They all thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  I was very impressed with Jaimin making his debut as goalkeeper; he made some fantastic saves.  You would not have guessed it was his first time in goal”.

U12 Team

The group stage of the event started with a thumping 6-1 victory over Lichfield with goals coming from the hugely influential Rohan Bhuhi (2), Sam Moorhouse (2), Ben Jefferson and Aaron Patel. With two more goals from Bhuhi in the next match, Leicester continued the good start with a 2-0 win over more difficult opponents, Worcester.

In bright spring sunshine, the boys’ confidence was visibly growing as they eased past Boots with another 2-0 score line. Bhuhi’s early goal was added to by Jefferson mid-way through the game. Despite not adding to the goal tally, the boys’ entertaining style of hockey was grabbing the attention of the sizeable crowd.

Leicester maintained their 100% record with victory over Coventry & North Warwickshire, thanks to a solitary Jefferson strike early in the game. With rivals Burton having drawn one of their earlier games, Leicester needed simply to avoid defeat to top the group and avoid hot favourites Beeston, from the other pool, in the semi-finals. A scoreless match, in which Burton offered no threat, set up a last-four encounter against Belper.

With a scintillating performance and goals from Jefferson, Bhuhi and Amar Chudasama, Leicester stormed into their first final at this level with a 3-0 win. This was the team’s best performance of the day as they made light work of good opposition.

In the final against giants Beeston, Leicester started cautiously and, for the first time, showed signs of feeling inferior to their opponents. Beeston came out of the blocks like a team desperate to secure yet another title, but in the fifth minute, the hard-running Ben Jefferson played a one-two with Rohan Bhuhi on the half-way line and slipped the ball past the approaching goalkeeper to put the city boys in the lead. All the defensive skills of Senna Patel, Daniel Wolloff and Saajan Patel would be needed from here on in to hold on to the slender lead.

Mid-way through the game, Beeston equalised  from their second penalty corner in quick succession, and with only three minutes left on the clock they took the lead from a quick break. The Leicester boys were down but not out as they pushed to the end. Right on the stroke of full-time, a penalty corner was awarded to Leicester. This was the last play of the match and anything other than a goal would hand the title to Beeston. Ben Newcombe injected the ball to the mercurial Rohan Bhuhi, who dodged away from advancing defenders to thunder the ball into the back boards to tie the final at 2-2.

A best-of-three penalty shootout would decide the winner and it was Beeston who went first. Leicester goalkeeper Ethan Smith moved to his right to save with his pads. Aaron Patel withstood the pressure to pass the ball past the Beeston goalkeeper and hand the advantage to Leicester. Another save by Smith, this time to his left, meant that if Leicester scored their next stroke they would be champions. Captain Rohan Bhuhi stepped up to complete the job and spark huge celebrations, on and off the pitch.

By becoming Midlands champions, Leicester now progress to the National Under-12 boys championship, which will be held in May.

After the success, head coach Harvinder Bhuhi said, “This is an incredible group of boys with an amazing team spirit. It is a joy to see them having so much fun. It is their desire that inspires the coaches to put in so much time with the boys and there is no limit to what they can achieve in the future. They have done their club, county and families proud”.

The boys celebrate receiving the winning trophy

TEAM: Ethan Smith (GK), Senna Patel, Daniel Wolloff, Saajan Patel, Amar Chudasama, Sam Moorhouse, Rohan Bhuhi (C), Ben Newcombe, Ben Jefferson, Aaron Patel.

Championship winning team

Coaches: Harvinder Bhuhi, Rinoo Patel & Paul Moorhouse

Manager: Dinesh Chudasama

Leicester U12 Girls Put On Great Show

On the same day, as County champions for the 2nd year running, Leicester Under-12 girls went to the Regional Finals, held this year at Rugby School, with high hopes. Although clear winners of the County tournament, the young Leicester team knew they would have to raise their performance a notch to compete at a regional level. Their pool included the top teams from the Midlands.

The tournament started off with 0-0 draws against Belper and Telford & Wrekin, in which Leicester completely dominated both games. There were particularly strong performances from the youngest player on the pitch, 8 year old Hephzibah Smalley-Kaspruk in right midfield, and Georgia Ryman, debuting as goal keeper. Lots of goal scoring opportunities presented themselves with many near misses, unfortunately the Leicester attack were unable to convert them into results.

Finally, in the third game Leicester pulled off a 1-0 win against Lichfield following a great display of attacking skill by the Captain Simran Sembi, who slotted the ball across for Rachael Chipman for a great strike on goal.

A 2-0 defeat against Worcester left the team with a big challenge going into the final draw against a very strong Beeston side. The Leicester team battled hard, with Niamh Quaid making a big impact as attacking centre forward. Leicester were hard pressed in their own half for much of the game, however, ably led by Jaskirat Aulakh in defence and supported by Isabel Glover and Praveen Ragi in midfield, Leicester managed to stay in the game. A moments lack of concentration in the final minutes, saw the favourites Beeston put away a well struck goal. Despite a spirited response led by Simran Sembi, Leicester failed to pull the game back

Fielding the youngest team in the tournament, including Amy Jones and Ellie Lineham recent recruits from the U10s, meant that the task was going to be difficult. However, the team showed that they will be a force to be reckoned with next season, when they compete again in the same age group another year older and with another years experience under their belts.

Leicester Under-12 girls are trained and managed as part of Leicester Men’s Hockey Club Junior Development Programme

TEAM: Georgia Ryman (GK) Hephzibah Smalley-Kaspruk, Jaskirat Aulakh, Simran Sembi, Rachael Chipman, Amy Jones, Ellie Lineham, Praveen Ragi, Isabel Glover, Niamh Quaid

Tournament U12 Girls Team Managers: Antin Kaspruk & Rajinder Raji

Report supplied by U12 Girls Coach Anna Smalley

Under 10 Boys Experience Competitive Hockey

Saturday 31st March 2012: With Leicestershire offering no competitive hockey at this age group, Leicester U10 Boys travelled to Rugby School to represent the county at the Midlands tournament with half the team having never played a match.

However, it was a successful day as all the boys were smiling at the end of play. They got to know each other and some had their first experience of competitive matches.

In this context, the results were irrelevant.

The experience should encourage the boys to keep playing hockey and continue improving through excellent junior hockey provision at the club.

The boys lost their opening game against eventual champions Beeston by 3-1, with Tom Moorhouse putting in a fine performance, which he capped with a stunning goal.

Next up was a 2-0 defeat against Wolverhampton, followed by a 5-0 reverse against Burton.

By the time of the final game against Rugby & East Warwickshire the boys had run out of steam and lost 8-1, despite some heroic efforts from Yuvraj Bhuhi in goal. Tom Moorhouse, once again, the goalscorer.

To their credit, the young players left the tournament feeling that they had done their best, which is all that can be asked.

TEAM: Yuvraj Bhuhi(GK), Tom Moorhouse(C), Parmveer Ragi, Jaimin Metcalf, Henry Davison, Jay Patel, Will Roberts, Charlie Lloyd-Jones, Louis Marshall

Parents of Primary school children are advised to stay during training (or nominate a fellow parent as guardian) in case of accident\injury.

u8 Head Coach Mahesh, Coaches James, Paul L, Aneesh (14 players)
u10 Head Coach David Hill, Coaches Raj, Emily J, Will H (20 players)
We have now the capacity to support those who stay for 2 hours but 1.5 hours may be more appropriate for a child of this age once the weather changes.
u13 Head Coaches Binder and Dave S, Coaches Anna, Paul M, Rinoo, Harbanse (20 players)
u14 upwards Coaches NM, Mike, Scott (22 players yesterday)

I have planned the following U14 League fixtures, 5.15 meet in the Pavilion, 5.30 start, 6.45 finish:

Sept 8 LGS u14 v LHC
Sept 15 LGS u13 v South L
Sept 22 LGS u14 v South L (THIS MATCH HAS BEEN PROVISIONALLY reARRANGED FOR OCT 20)
Sept 29 LGS u13 v LHC
Oct 6 LHC v South L
Oct 13 LGS u14 v LGS u13

The LHC squad for the match on Oct 6: Joe Gu (gk), Charlie, Hardev, Francis, Joe AO, Ben J, Aaron, Sarah T, Imran, Thomas J, Rohan, Sam M, Amar, James Hunt. Overall, I have included a number of older boys to match the age profile and size of the South L team. I am currently preparing more inclusive Thurs provision for ‘under 14s’ after halfterm involving indoor and outdoor (coaches who can help, 5.30-7.00 let me know please).

The LGS u13 squad for the match on Oct 13: Jeevan K (gk), Harry B, Arin P, Thomas J, Harry R, Haaris A, Shailan K, Sameer T, Sachin V, Brendan C, Shiv P. Hardev, James + Rohan from LHC to join this squad.

The LGS u14 squad for the match on Oct 13: Joseph Gu (gk), James W, Nadir, Ash, Alistair, Joseph AO, Joseph Gl, Robbie, Charlie, Kimon, Imran, Niam, Francis, James H, Tom J.
Unavailable: Michael, Bilal?

Bev M manages South L.

I have invited Charlie, James Mason and Hardev to all matches to help ‘balance’ squads while we learn how to play 11-a-side hockey. A number of older boys from the Club will be assisting with team management.

I have planned the following u16, u18, Vets and Mixed League fixtures, 6.45 meet in the Pavilion, 7.00 start, 8.30 finish:

Sept 8 Vets v u16
Sept 15 Mixed v u18
Sept 22 u16 v Mixed
Sept 29 Vets v u16
Oct 6 u16 v u18
Oct 13 Vets v Mixed

I am currently preparing Thurs provision for ‘over 14s’ after halfterm.

The LHC u16 squad for the match on Sept 22: Daniel B (gk), Jeetpal, John, Ryan, Jack B, Jack A, Elliott, Matt W, Kuljit, Dom, Tim
Unavailable: Jagpal (injured), Millan, Jack D
Reserves\umpires: Tom C, Jack M, Steven, Scott. For Thurs: Black socks, black shorts, always bring a black and a white top.

Martyn manages the Vets (the modern term is Masters).

Simon H\Mark S manage the mixed Saturday squads and the midweek teams.

The LGS u18 squad is managed by Jonathan B, Adam (gk), Ash, Harry, Cameron, Chris, James, Will, Stuart, Sahil, Sailen, Jacob, Angus, George.

LHC Committee: NM (Secretary), Adam (Treasurer), Ed T (Fixtures), Luds (Associations), Matt E (1s), Chris P (1s Manager), Ed B (2s), Callum (3s), Dan B (4s), Martyn (Vets), Mike (Equipment), Binder (Juniors), Graham (Mixed), Chas (Deposit Account), Steve T (Umpires), Ray (Membership), Dave T (Media), Rich (Social). I intend to enter the Committee as a Fantasy Hockey Team in the Club League.

The Midlands Hockey Association have sent their usual reminder to all clubs that players are not covered for Personal Accident under the normal England Hockey Policy to which we subscribe. Thankyou for the vast majority of subsciptions already paid. We invest everything we collect in your hockey provision and we operate based on volunteers – no individuals are in a paid role.

I am investigating Level 1 and Level 2 Coaching courses with England Hockey.

I have planned the following U14 League fixtures, 5.15 meet in the Pavilion, 5.30 start, 6.45 finish:

Sept 8 LGS u14 v LHC
Sept 15 LGS u13 v South L
Sept 22 LGS u14 v South L (THIS MATCH HAS BEEN PROVISIONALLY ARRANGED FOR OCT 20)
Sept 29 LGS u13 v LHC
Oct 6 LHC v South L
Oct 13 LGS u14 v LGS u13

The LGS u13 squad for the match on Sept 29: Jeevan K (gk), Harry B, Arin P, Thomas J, Harry R, Haaris A, Shailan K, Sameer T, Sachin V, Brendan C, Shiv P. I am inviting Amar, Sam M, Charlie M + Rohan from LHC to join this squad.

The LHC squad for the match on Sept 29: Ketan (gk), Aneesh, Ben J, Sophie J, Ben N, Aaron, Catherine T, Sam Collins, Sam Brown, Sarah T, Luke, Daniel, Hardev, James Mason.

The LGS u14 squad for the match Oct 14: Joseph Gu (gk), James W, Bilal, Nadir, Ash, Alistair, Joseph AO, Joseph Gl, Robbie, Charlie, Kimon, Imran, Niam, Francis, James H, Tom J.

Bev M manages South L.

I have invited Charlie, James Mason and Hardev to all matches to help ‘balance’ squads while we learn how to play 11-a-side hockey. A number of older boys from the Club will be assisting with team management.

I have planned the following u16, u18, Vets and Mixed League fixtures, 6.45 meet in the Pavilion, 7.00 start, 8.30 finish:

Sept 8 Vets v u16
Sept 15 Mixed v u18
Sept 22 u16 v Mixed
Sept 29 Vets v u16
Oct 6 u16 v u18
Oct 13 Vets v Mixed

The LHC u16 squad for the match on Sept 22: tba(gk), Jagpal, Jeetpal, John, Ryan, Millan, Jack B, Jack A, Elliott, Matt W, Kuljit.
Reserves\umpires: Tom C, Jack M, Steven, Scott. For Thurs: Black socks, black shorts, always bring a black and a white top.

Martyn manages the vets (the modern term is masters).

Simon H\Mark S manage the mixed.

The LGS u18 squad is managed by Jonathan B, Adam (gk), Ash, Harry, Cameron, Chris, James, Will, Stuart, Sahil, Sailen, Jacob. Jonathan i need an email address for each of the u18s.

LHC Committee: NM (Secretary), Adam (Treasurer), Ed T (Fixtures), Luds (Associations), Matt E (1s), Chris P (1s Manager), Ed B (2s), Callum (3s), Dan B (4s), Martyn (Vets), Mike (Equipment), Binder (Juniors), Graham (Mixed), Chas (Deposit Account), Steve T (Umpires), Ray (Membership), Dave T (Media), Rich (Social).

The Midlands Hockey Association have sent their usual reminder to all clubs that players are not covered for Personal Accident under the normal England Hockey Policy to which we subscribe. Volunteers (Committee, Coaches and Managers please read the Volunteer Agreement attached to update on procedures. For your information Saturday MRHA league matches begin Oct 1.

Note to all players – paying subsciptions promptly helps me! We invest everything we collect in your hockey provision. We operate based on volunteers – no individuals are in a paid role.

Goalkeeping Awards

• Catherine Toolan (U12 Girls)
• Ketan Deogan (U12 Boys)
• Yuvraj Singh Bhuhi (U9 & U10 Boys)
• Amar Chudasama (U12 Boys)
• Isaac Garner (U12 Boys)
• Ethan Smith (U11 & U12 Boys)
• Sam Standish (U10 & U11 Boys)

Special Achievement for dedication to the junior coaching programme

• Kathryn York

Most Improved Player of the Year

• U8 Girls: Hephzibah Smalley-Kaspruk
• U8 Boys: Tom Moorhouse
• U10 Girls: Rosalind Rashid
• U10 Boys: Robbie Spencer
• U12 Girls: Amalia Gane
• U12 Boys: Ben Newcombe

Although the team started slowly and got stronger as the day went on, the results exaggerated this as the stronger opposition was in the earlier games. Starting with a flat 0-1 defeat in the opening match against eventual winners Belper, the boys won the second match with goals from captain Ben Newcombe and Ben Jefferson.

The best match of the day was the next one against Burton I. An even contest was won by Burton as they took their chances whereas Leicester missed theirs. The Burton goalkeeper was in good form making three excellent saves. Two further missed golden opportunities to score meant another loss for the team. There were also a couple of good saves from Leicester’s goalkeeper Ketan Deogan when it looked likely that Burton would score.

Comfortable leads over weaker opposition in the following matches allowed rare outfield cameo performances for 7-year-old Yuvraj Bhuhi who, on three occasions, came close to scoring to cap his big day. There were improved performances from all the players as Joel Holzer found form with four goals and Rohan Bhuhi also chipped in with the same tally.

Once again, Senna Patel was typically hard-working in defence and Ethan Smith, Aneesh Deogan and late addition, Sam Moorhouse got opportunities to try out new positions on the pitch. Aaron Patel linked up well in several sweeping one-touch moves and capped his improving performance by finishing off an excellent sequence of passes.

Squad: Ketan Deogan (GK), Aneesh Deogan, Senna Patel, Ethan Smith, Ben Newcombe (C), Joel Holzer, Ben Jefferson, Aaron Patel, Yuvraj Bhuhi, Rohan Bhuhi, Sam Moorhouse.