I hope you’re enjoying the sunshine and basking in the aftermath of another great season.
Hockey success across the board
- Our M4s were promoted, and almost all senior teams finished in the top half of their tables, even after years of promotions.
- Our GU16s beat City of York to finish ninth in the country.
- Our MO35s narrowly lost 2-1 to Bristol & West at a national final.
- Our L7s won a recent Hockey 5s tournament at Marlow.
- Our Grand Masters and Maestros continue to thrive with regular tournaments and hosting the England Over 80s.
And great community work
- Our fantastic Schools’ Programme, through which we are bringing hockey to kids in local state primary schools continues to flourish – after one trial festival at the end of the 22/23 season, it’s grown such that we will have run seven festivals by the end of this academic year! Big thanks to Emily Sharps and Jacko for all they do to make that a reality.
- I’m also delighted that our Flyerz programme has got going this year – hockey for young people with disabilities – Jane Hayward is leading that and it really is a wonderful addition to the things the club does for the community.
Some coaching updates
- Sad news that Mark Talbot is leaving us to go travelling for a year – we hope he decides that Amersham would be a great place to come back to! He has been a fantastic member of the club, mostly leading the L1s but also always ready to help out elsewhere.
- Replacing Mark as L1s coach will be Rich Egglesfield, another great member of the team who led both the M1 and M2 teams to promotion in 2023/24.
- On the men’s side, big thanks to Si Archer for his work with the men’s performance squad this season. For next season I am pleased to confirm that Rupert Shipperley (Amersham resident and holder of 75 GB caps) will be joining as M1s/2s coach, with Tom Kavanagh leading the M1s at weekends when Rupert’s playing commitments mean he can’t be there.
Club facilities development
Don’t hold your breath, but at last there are some signs of real progress on this front. Our pre-planning application for a second pitch was favourably received and we also have potential access to some of the necessary funding for it. A formal planning application is being prepared and funding leads followed up. Once we have more concrete information to share we will do so.
Finances
With continued investment in coaching, a slight reduction in match fee income, and fees relating to planning work, our forecast surplus for 24/25 is lower than we need to replace the astroturf carpet when that becomes necessary. The legal and planning fees will continue to rise, and the England Hockey affiliation fee is also doubling to £11,000. We’re also waiving subs for goalkeepers with their own kit. We would rather minimise the amount we need to borrow when we replace the pitch carpet, so the upshot of all of that is that we have decided to increase subs for 25/26 by around 12%, and junior match fees are also increasing so that they cover the costs incurred at those matches. Senior match fees will be unchanged.
For more details on the finances and the subs, the slides from last week’s AGM are here.
Volunteers – please help
The more volunteers we have, the more we can keep costs down! If you can help out with the facilities team, could organise an event, or can join the umpiring or coaching teams that would be great. Get in touch with info@achc.org.uk and we will point you in the right direction.
Dates for your diary
And finally some dates for your diary – for some the season still isn’t quite over!
- 25th May – our mixed team have their semi-final in the EH Tier 2 Mixed Cup at Slazenger HC in Yorkshire. If they win then they will be in the national final, at Southgate on 7th June
- 8th June – the England O40s, featuring our own Helene Gosden, will be playing against our L1s at the club at 1.30pm. Come and watch!
- Wednesdays – there’s a fun mixed session at the club on Wednesdays at 6.30pm. Complete the form here to let Catherine Watson know you’ll be there.
Enjoy the summer break – if you are playing hockey or taking a well-earned rest – and I look forward to seeing everyone refreshed and ready to go for the 2025/26 season!
Rob Levine, Chair, ACHC
