Club News

It is with sadness that we report the death of Bob Bates at the age of 88. Bob was a stalwart of the Club for many years, most notably as founder member of the Gondoliers in 1969. Danny Puttick, another of those first Gondoliers remembers him below.

GHC player Richard Julian moved to Costa Rica 18 months ago to work for an educational charity. He keeps in touch with GHC and sent in this short update. Please have a look! Any other 'alumni' out there - we would love to hear from you...

Exciting times here at Guildford Hockey Club last Friday when Olympic medallist and Team GB player Alex Danson came to visit! A gracious, generous and engaging person, Alex was a big hit with our Junior Section.

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has announced some changes to the Rules of Hockey. Details can be found on pages 5 - 7 of the 2015 FIH Rules Book.

These changes take effect at International level from 1st January 2015 and will be implemented in the Investec Women’s Hockey League (IWHL) and the Now Pensions Men’s Hockey League (NPMHL) upon the resumption of the outdoor season on 31st January 2015. 

Beneath the IWHL and NPMHL, the changes will not be implemented in England mid season, with one exception - we will allow the use of the new style face masks at all levels of the game with immediate effect.

England Hockey are consulting with Clubs and other organisations to determine which and how to implement the changes further down the leagues. Please click on the link here to give feedback.

Many thanks to Sally Foster, one of our very dedicated Under 14 Boys umpires, for summarising the rule changes in this article!
 

We are lucky in the Club to have so many interesting and interested people as members, friends, parents, siblings, spouses, etc. This week we were reminded once again of how a small initiative from one of these people can make a big difference. Helen Esplen, Physio to GB Rowing and a mum of a Junior Player, offered to run a stretching and core fitness session for the Under 14 Boys. She has also shared her notes from the evening which are here in this article. Have a look to either learn or remind yourself - and see what the clubhouse looks like with 50 Under 14 Boys sprawled all over the floor stretching their hamstrings...

Sport Godalming held their annual awards ceremony at Charterhouse Club on Friday 21 November. As always, the event was well-attended by many of the area's best and most dedicated sports players, personalities, coaches, managers and administrators. The entries for the various categories were strong, sometimes including up to 12 nominees. GHC's Under 14 A team were nominated for the Go Godalming Shield, which is the Youth Team of the Year Award, and came they away winners...

There is no doubt that running an amateur sports club requires a lot of hours from our army of volunteers. Many, many people give their time and effort and skills for which we are all very grateful. And every now and then we have a case of someone going above and beyond...

Last Thursday, 11^th September, our GHC Men's President, Ian Russell, and his wife, Vera, attended the Funeral of Norman Vowles in Yeovil at the Crematorium. For the Club members who did not really know him, Norman joined GHC in the mid-1960s. His hockey background was very impressive. Read more of Ian's tribute to Norman...

The last weekend of summer holidays for most Juniors before the start of school - in and amongst getting back from holiday and gathering up the pencils, notebooks and school uniforms, 120 Junior Players and their parents took advantage of the opportunity to come to the Club for Junior Open Day...

West Hertfordshire HC invited a few clubs of Under 14s and 16s for some summer 7 a side. Well worth the trip to Watford on a hot July Sunday. Guildford Under 16 Boys came away winners as did our Mixed Under 14 side! Two more trophies! And three Guildford players were in the mix for Player of the Tournament...