Our ‘Back 2 Hockey’ sessions are proving successful with a wide range of new & returning players taking part, thanks to Bev, Julie & Paul for arranging & coaching this. There’s still another 4 weeks to go, so if you know anyone who fancies giving the game a go or wishes to return to the sport, please encourage them to come down on Friday evening at 7pm.

FITNESS
Fitness Training starts on Wednesday 24th July at Cundall Manor School at 6.30pm - 8pm. One hour of fitness will be led by Aimee Dubiel or Mark Crisp over 6 sessions and then you have opportunity to play 30 minutes of hockey. It’s a fantastic chance to get fit, meet with team mates and play some social hockey. The sessions are designed to be inclusive for all club members who are 13 years or older. It’s a great opportunity if you are moving up to Senior hockey for the first time. Cost is £3.00 a session. Thank you to Nigel Smith for handling registers.

COACHES
As many of you will be aware we have lost coach Chris Booth (Ladies 1 Coach & U16 Girls) this Summer to a new job. Whilst we send our congratulations to Chris; I am pleased to welcome JJ Owen to the post of lead coach for Ladies 1 & 2nd team. JJ will work closely with Captain Hannah Rogers and new Team Managers, Ben Longthorne and Julie Bower to build on the Ladies 1st team’s success. JJ is an experienced hockey player himselRf but he is also Head of Hockey at St Peter’s School and Past Head of Hockey for Ampleforth; so knows quite a lot about the game & coaching too.
We hope to have another coach in place for the start of the season to work with JJ and the Ladies 2nds team. This still needs to be filled but I’ll keep you posted as the Summer progresses. Finally, the wonderful Jo Lightfoot, has agreed to continue as Ladies 3rd & 4th coach & team manager. Jo’s commitment and passion for bringing though junior players and newbies is fantastic and we look forward in welcoming this Summer’s Back to Hockey Ladies and new U14 & U16s into the squad.
We have consistency with Men’s 1st & 2nds coach, the brilliant Sam Devlin will be back to build on what has now been 2 years of coaching. We are hoping to see the two teams grow after last year’s consolidation as we attract new members and our juniors continue to progress and strengthen the teams.
With regards to junior coaching; we are thankful that many of our great coaches will be back to take sessions. Our U14 & U16 girls did require some new input with Trevor and Chris’s departure and we’re pleased to announce Coach Mike Johnston is joining us. Mike comes highly recommended and was Head of Hockey at St Peters & Wellington School and has also coached teams at the National School Finals. Mike will lead the U14 girls coaching and support James Pollock with U16s.
Our Chairman - Kate Webster, would personally like to thank all the other coaches and parent helpers across all age-groups. You are vital in running sessions and we couldn’t operate without you. We have our first coaches meeting for all coaches and age-group co-ordinators on 29th August at Thirsk Athletic Club at 7.30pm.

COMMITTEE
The Hockey club committee is formed primarily from our Senior Captains and senior players and to a lesser extent parents of players. The committee is tasked with running both the Senior & Junior club and we could always do with new members. I’d like to thank Sophie Carus for offering to take on our Sponsorship this year, after not having anyone in the role for many years. We could do with a few more members to take on a variety of roles; most notable is a membership recruitment officer, social secretary and volunteer co-ordinator. We need self-starters who ideally have some social media & marketing skills. Can you help?

Kate has been Chair of the hockey club for the past 2 years and is committed to continue for another year, however she believes it is healthy for a club to have new ideas & leaders frequently. Please join the committee this year if you think you would like to consider Chair for next season.

HOCKEY OPEN DAY
Sunday 1st September will be our annual open day. It is an opportunity to play some hockey and meet other members. The junior session will be in the morning with seniors in the afternoon. More information to follow but please put the date in your diary.

UMPIRING
We are running a special 2 week course for parents & young leaders to learn and brush up on how to umpire 7-a-side matches. It will be held on 27th September & 4th October 6.00-8.00pm and it is free to attend. If you would like to try, please sign up for the course at the start of the season. We really need umpires to help at U10 & U12 Youth League games and we can give you the opportunity to practice at training.
Prior to the session, we would advise you take the ‘Online Rules’ test first. It’s free and can found at https://hockeyhub.englandhockey.co.uk/officiating. Click on "Rules of Hockey" to register and log in.
We are also actively looking for experienced Umpires for Saturday senior matches. Please forward the following advert to anyone you know who umpires…
L1 Umpire Wanted Based at Thirsk Astro Pitch for multiple Saturday Matches
Thirsk Hockey Club & Northallerton Hockey Club have a weekly umpiring opportunity during the season, where we can guarantee up to 4 back to back games on a Saturday. We cover expenses of £15 per game. Umpire must have own insurance via YHUA or similar. Club can provide radios and welcomes umpires open to their use. Contact Kate.webster@digred.com

YOUNG LEADERS & DUKE of EDINBURGH AWARD
If you are wanting to volunteer to assist our hockey coaches as part of your Duke of Edinburgh Award, please get in touch with Bev Longthorne as soon as you can. We are planning a short England Hockey course to enable Young Leaders to assist with coaching on 20th September at 6.30pm-7.30pm. We would like all those DoE students to attend this and the 7 a-side umpiring course in the subsequent weeks.