It’s been a few months now since the curtain came down on arguably the most successful season in the clubs history; which was rightly celebrated at a series of end of year events for both seniors and juniors.

The days of a close season where the club shuts down until September are seemingly long gone! It’s been a busy few months both behind the scenes and on the pitch with Summer League, Back to Hockey etc.

I’d like to thank those members and parents who came to the AGM a month or so ago. It was heartening to new faces step up and take on roles within the club. There are still some roles to fill; most notably Men’s 3s captain and for a parent manager for the Boys badgers. The full list of roles that still need filling are appended to the end of this email. If you’d like more detail on any of these roles then please contact Myra or me.

1. Accounts and Proposed rise in Fees
Though as (interim) Treasurer I presented an account summary at the AGM which showed income and expenditure and broke those down into categories I wasn’t able to produce a finalised set of accounts which was less than ideal. One of the reasons for this was that we were still collating the number of matches played and umpired. You will remember that at the 2014 AGM the club agreed to reward our internal, qualified coaches by rebating some of their fees, akin to what we have done for several years for our club umpires.

When we factor in a provision for those rebates, the club did operate at a loss during 2014/15. Let me be clear, the club retains a healthy bank balance and does not seek to make money out of its members for its own sake. However, it is not sustainable for the club to operate at a loss going forward and we also need to look long term, for example retaining a surplus in order to contribute to maintenance of the playing surface in 8-10 years’ time. Clearly, any rise in fees needs to be considered carefully, particularly as we raised fees (albeit for the first time in a decade) a few years ago.

The notion of a fee increase was discussed at length at the AGM and those present were supportive of the rationale behind the proposal. I would like to add our research indicates that, even with the proposed rises, the club would still be one of the cheapest clubs around. The committee continues to support inclusivity in sport, so any genuine cases of financial hardship can be put to a member of the committee in confidence.

With all this in mind the committee is proposing the following fee structure for 2015/16 at an EGM at the Swan Hotel, Wotton under Edge on Thursday 30 July at 8pm

Senior membership: Annual Sub £100, Match fees £7
Student/Unwaged/U18 playing senior hockey: Annual Sub £75, Match fees £5
Vixens and Badgers: Annual Sub £75, Match fees £4
Juniors (U8/10/12): Annual Sub £70, Match fees £3

If these are accepted by membership then Pitchero (our online payments system on our website) will be updated and a further email on how to sign up as a member will be sent in August.

2. Training
You will have seen the recent email from Myra which outlined both August pre-season and Winter training arrangements for the coming season; due to unforeseen circumstances we have had to make some amendments to those slots – and the revised version is at the bottom of this email and will be uploaded to website shortly.
As you will appreciate, as the club grows, we have had to make some changes - notably in splitting men’s training now there are 4 men’s XIs. I know that these changes won’t suit 100% of members but we have made them with the best interest of our members in mind.
I will send a more targeted email to senior members re: selection in due course but given the increase in men’s XIs , and as discussed at AGM, we will be trialling the role of ‘Club Captain’ for the men’s section this year (see below). Part of that remit will be to manage the selection process and the split training to ensure that there is appropriate movement between XIs

3. September and Beyond
The eagle eyed among you will have noted that the senior league fixtures for 15/16 have been released. We are still awaiting confirmation of the badgers and vixens fixtures.
We have placed our ‘bids’ for pitch slots with WCSF/Sport Wotton so all being well members will notice little difference to how Saturdays shape up at the pitch; but we will full publish details of fixtures and times as soon as these are nailed down. In the meantime, you can view the League Programme here:
http://www.wswhl.co.uk/public/fixturesmenu.php
http://www.wcwhl.co.uk/public/fixturesmenu.php

Our fixture secretaries have already begun getting friendly games for the coming season too. More on this to follow.
We have also signed up to England Hockey’s #hockeyfest which is a national celebration of our sport. HockeyFest is replacing Club Weekend which has previously run on the first weekend in September – through club surveys last year the majority of players said the reason they stay at their club is due to the friendly and social environment. So HockeyFest is centred all around gathering our club together, new and existing members and their friends and family, to get ready and start the season. This will take place on 5 September, where we envisage running some junior and other events alongside senior friendlies, as well as a social event in the evening so look out for more details nearer the time.

You might also like to note that the End of Season Dinner-Dance & Awards has been booked for Tortworth Court Hotel on April 16 2016!

I know there is a lot to take in here, but felt that a detailed update on the position of the club and our immediate plans was long overdue.
As ever, the club really appreciates the continued support we get from members and their families. Any further queries on any of this information, don’t hesitate to ask a committee member but for now enjoy the rest of your Summer…

Stuart Emms, Chairman

TRAINING TIMES 2015-16
SENIOR PRE-SEASON (AUGUST)

Men: Weds nights 1930-2030, August 5th onwards
Ladies: Thurs nights 1930-2030, August 13th onwards

WINTER TRAINING (SEPT 2015-MARCH 2016)

Tuesdays: Mens 3s & 4s 2000-2130
Wednesdays: Juniors (u8/10/12s) 1800-1900 +
Badgers (Boys U16S) 1900-2000 ++
Mens 1s & 2s 2000-2130
Thursdays: Juniors (U8/10/12S) 1800-1900 +
Vixens (Girls U16S) 1900-2000
Ladies 1s & 2s 2000-2130
+ - juniors will attend ONE of these sessions
++ - This is on half a pitch and we have booked the other half pitch for alternating between GK training and specialist set piece training (details TBC)

CLUB OFFICERS 2015-16
We still need volunteers for the following roles. It is very important we do fill these roles for the club to run efficiently.
3rd XI Mens Captain
Badgers Parent Helper
Senior Fundraiser
Junior Fundraiser
Junior Fixture Secretary