Royston Hockey Club

    

Welcome to the Home of Royston Hockey Club

Royston Hockey Club is one of the elite hockey clubs in Hertfordshire, boasting 4 Men's sides and 3 Ladies teams. We also run a very successful Youth hockey section on Sunday mornings.

The club has been going for over fifty years, and we have seen many club players over the years reach both County and National level. We have a proud tradition of playing good, sporting hockey combined with a strong social element. So if you are looking to join a great hockey club in your area, Royston Hockey Club is for you! Please browse through our website to find more detailed information on the club, or call or email any of the main club / committee members. Come and join us, we're a great club!

AGM Minutes and actions from the 2011 AGM are still to be distributed. Look out for e-mail and information on the website.

Normal Training Dates for the 2011/12 Season

The training programme for the coming season will be as follows:

Mens 1st and Ladies 1st XIs Hockey Training: Melbourn College - 20h00 to 22h00 - Dates: Tuesdays from 6th September
Ladies 2nd, 3rd XIs Hockey Training: Bassingbourn College - 19h00 to 20h00 - Dates: Mondays from 5th September
Men's 2nd, 3rd, 4th XIs Hockey Training: Bassingbourn College - 21h00 to 22h00 - Dates: Mondays from 5th September

Junior hockey training: The Meridian School astro - 10h00 to 13h00 - Dates: Sunday mornings starting 18th September
Goalkeeper training: Postponed until further notice

Match Dates:  see the fixtures tab above for more details.


2010/11 Season News

Mens Section
The season didn’t start well when a shortage of players, due to the retirement of several senior players and the loss of a number of the younger generation to University, meant the 5^th team had to be withdrawn from the League.  Player shortages dominated throughout the first half of the season as poor availability and a growing list of injured players made it a struggle some weeks to field even four teams.

The 1^st team hampered by the lack of a settled side, only managed two wins prior to the Christmas break.  Better availability after the break and a more positive attitude enabled the team to turn things around and they finished with a flourish.  They were unbeaten in their last five games, including a notable win against the high flying Potters Bar in the last game of the season.  Hopefully, next season they can continue to improve and start to build towards promotion.  Unfortunately, Andy Drage is stepping down as skipper after seven years in charge.  Andy has done an excellent job during this time and his thoughtful leadership will be missed.

The 2^nd team led the way in division 5 with seven wins from their first eight games and despite consecutive defeats against the two Stevenage teams were still handily placed in second place at the Christmas break.  This was achieved despite regularly losing three or four players to the first team.  After the break things didn’t go quite so well, but a run of four wins on the trot seemed to seal second place and promotion.  However, successive losses to Stevenage meant that a win from the final home game was required to secure second place.  This was achieved in great style coming back from 2 goals down to win 3-2.

The 3^rd team were probably hardest hit by the clubs long list of injuries and poor availability and as a consequence struggled most of the season.  The introduction of a few new players after the Christmas break and a lot of hard work from Keith Markham and Tim Yeo produced a team which made steady progress and in the end were perhaps a little unlucky not to escape relegation.

The reduction in the number of league teams meant that the development team (4^th team) had to play 2 divisions higher than last season.  Well led by Simon Hughes and Pete Belcher they started positively winning the first two games.  Although they were competitive in most matches, losing 5 matches by only one goal, ultimately the step up in standard proved too much and they finished one point behind the Men’s 3s. This was a very challenging season but overall I think a successful one.  The 1s turned around a very poor start and the 2s were promoted to Division 4.  It was disappointing that both the 3s and 4s were relegated to division 8, but both teams have a sound base on which to build on next season.  The biggest success of the season has been the progress made by the youngsters. Bailey Farmer, Joshua Hughes, Miles Jackson and John Gourd have featured regularly in the 2^nd Team’s push for promotion and Michael Priest finished the season in the first team.  There are also several other youngsters in the development side who have the potential to make significant progress next season.

Bob Biddlecombe, Mens Club Captain

Ladies Section

Ladies 1s - Well what a great season for them.  Promotion last season from Division One and they finish the season in Premier in second place.  Despite key players being injured during the season  Vicky Bidwell has done a wonderful job as Captain with the support from Ruth Askham but I think the whole basis of why the team has done so well is the great bond that the team have and hard they work together as team through training and games.  It has also helped the great relationship they all have with Paul Visagie and how much they have enjoyed his training sessions despite all the difficulties with the Barracks and not having the pitch to train on.  Well done to the Ladies 1’s they are a credit to the club.

Ladies 2s - A bit of a mixed season for the Ladies 2 they were at the bottom of the table beginning of the season and then they have slowly pushed their way back to middle of the table.  Clare has been a great captain again this season and it has been nice to see youngsters coming up to play for them i.e. Jennifer Biddlecombe and Lucy Richardson and also Emma Whittaker who is now playing for the 1’s.