In fact, for a few people the season started back in June/July when the club ran 6 Back to Hockey sessions. They were all very well supported and I would like to thank those involved in drumming up support and to the coaches who ran the sessions.

The season started officially with Clint Dickie day on September 1st. This was a tremendously successful day with a great turnout from Junior and Senior members of the club. It was good to see support across the whole club for this very important day.

On the pitch, there have been many positives to take out of the first half of the season, and whilst the results have not always been favourable there has been no lack of effort from all. It’s pleasing to see the Men’s 1st XI continue from where they left off last season. Thanks to Jamie Hacker for taking over the role of coach. It’s great to see the players responding so well and, barring the odd hiccup, putting in some excellent performances.

I look forward to seeing what the second half of the season brings for all our teams and I hope those challenging for promotion are able to refocus quickly when the league season resumes in January.

Off the pitch, much hard work has been put in by a number of individuals to ensure we continue to strengthen the club and to ensure that the financial position remains solid. I am very grateful to Jenny Greaves for all the hard work that she has undertaken to collect and reconcile membership and match fees.
Thanks also to Russell Hemming for the refurbishment of the 2 dugouts. The top and rear panels are now much stronger than those that were originally installed and hopefully this will protect them from the strong winds we occasionally have at John Hanson! Very soon you will see signage added to the dugouts to further stamp our identity up at the pitch. Thanks to Sean O’Sullivan for arranging this.

The final piece of ‘off-pitch’ news is that we now have 2 additional goals up at John Hanson. The club has used money we have received from sponsors to invest in the new goals and these are starting to be used for training and matches.

Elsewhere in the club we have had some success with club members representing Hampshire at both ends of the age scale! Watch out for articles on this, Junior section successes and other Club news appearing in your inbox and on the website over the coming months.

Finally, I would like to thank all of the members who work tirelessly in their designated roles for the benefit of others. It can be quite a thankless task, but without your efforts we would not have a club. It would be good to add some new faces to our volunteer force so if you would like to take on a role within the club, please get in touch.

I wish all members and their families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Prosperous and Healthy New Year.

Mike Boyne