After an exciting few months of negotiation the Wokingham HC and Bracknell HC have agreed to merge and the new name for the club is South Berkshire Hockey Club. This merger allows us to all benefit from larger numbers which will allow at least 2 teams for each age group, regular league games and the ability to enter junior teams into local hockey festivals and competitions. Key to the success of the club will be coaching and the already the club has secured a highly qualified Junior Head Coach who currently coaches at Regional and County Level. He will be responsible for developing and implementing a hockey coaching plan for the junior section to deliver improved training for all age groups as well as leading on U10 and U14/16 Girls sessions.

This newsletter sets out the plans for next season, including training times, coaching teams and information regarding league and tournament schedules to develop our 200 plus junior members, one of the largest junior sections in the region.

In this first year, we intend to start as we mean to go on.
Our aims are to;

Create a cohesive Junior Section
Encourage juniors to have fun and enjoy the sport
Develop skills, game play and fitness in a positive, friendly coaching environment
Offer competitive hockey through tournaments and league games at all age groups
Enable juniors to move through the year groups and teams to become confident adult players with a clear player pathway supported throughout the club.

Our newly formed club has decided to build on the established training structure that was used successfully last season by Wokingham at Cantley Park.

This allows us to offer each age group (u8’s, u10’s, u12’s, u14’s, u16’s):

Dedicated pitch time (at least 1 hour a week, more pitch time for the older age groups)
A strong coaching team – comprising of Level 2 lead coaches and Level 1 assistant coaches, plus parent helpers
A dedicated manager for Youth Development and each team.

By having all training in one location at Cantley Park, the Junior Head Coach can have an overview of all the age groups and we will be able to offer coaching cover for days when there are matches.

Both Bracknell and Wokingham Pitches will be utilized – Cantley Pitch predominantly used for training and the Bracknell pitch for matches and additional training needs.

Already many of you have expressed an interest in helping with the Junior Section and there is already a lot of support to cover all the age groups. We are planning on merging our coaching teams and would welcome additional volunteer coaches, managers, day helpers, junior committee members from both Bracknell and Wokingham parents and players to ensure all the Juniors get the opportunity to play in matches, competitions and smooth running of the section

Training
Training Day: Sunday
Match Day: Sunday

Training venue: Cantley Park Astro pitch in Wokingham, RG40 5QG
For those of you who have not been to Cantley the facilities include a comfortable clubhouse which will be open and there will be opportunity to make teas and coffee if parents wish to stay with their children and Wokingham Town is a short drive or walk away.

Session Time:	Group	Head Coach (Level 2)	Assistant Coaches
9.00-10.00	Under 8 Boys and Girls	Bruce McCulloch	Andrea Hodgson
8.45-10.00	Under 14/16 Boys	Rik Temmink	Robbie Campion
9.30-11.00	Under 12 Boys and Girls	Jenny Jones	Grieg Scott, Alison Longfield
10.30-12.00	Under 10 Boys and Girls	Jaypee Wentzel	Dave Badger, Jo Partridge, Rob Waller, Emma Hills
11.30-1.00	Under 14 /16 Girls	Jaypee Wentzel	Mary King

Alongside our training schedule there is a competition schedule for each age group. In addition to opportunities outlined below we will take part in adhoc festivals when they become available and our schedule allows.

Group	Number of children	Leagues/ Competitions
Under 8 Boys and Girls	45-50	Thames Valley Mini’s
Under 10 Boys and Girls	50	Thames Valley Mini’s
Under 12 Boys and Girls	50	Boys and Girls - Thames Valley Mini’s, U12 Girls - Mercian Home Counties Girls U12 league, U12 Girls Dev - Mercian Home Counties Girls U12 Dev League (7 aside), Mercian Home Counties Boys U12 League
Under 14/16 Boys	15+	Mercian Home Counties Boys U14 Regional league, U14 Championship, England Hockey
Under 14 /16 Girls	45-50	U14 - Mercian Home Counties Girls U14 Regional league, U16 - Mercian Home Counties Girls U16 Regional league, U14 Dev - Mercian Home Counties Girls U14 Development league, U16 Dev - Mercian Home Counties Girls U16 Development league, U14 Championship, England Hockey, U16 Championship, England Hockey

Kit
Full details regarding kit will be available soon, however we already have decisions on the following;

Colours – Black & Green
Funding – all players will receive new shirts and socks for a heavily subsidised rate
Design – currently being confirmed
Logo – current draft is at the top of this newsletter
All players throughout the whole club will wear the same kit whatever team they play in.

Further details will be shared when we have them.

Juniors playing adult hockey
We have decided to adopt the successful model of the Terriers Team from Bracknell which plays on Saturdays in adults leagues and over the years has developed players to represent clubs at national league and international level. The intention is that juniors play hockey with experience players and coaches to transition through to adult hockey and then progress to higher teams when ready.

For the boys the Terriers team will continue and children (age 13+) when ready will be selected to train with the team in the first instance prior to being selected to play.

The Ladies development team will work on the same basis.

Further updates on our progress
In terms of next steps, if you have any questions regarding the merger or the junior section please contact Jane Martin or Jenny Jones juniors@southberkshirehockeyclub.org.uk.

The club will be providing further information via a regular newsletter and email updates. Our website will be updated and all members transferred across.

Training and Match schedule and key dates – Once league dates are available we will compile a full training schedule for the whole season. First day of training will be Sunday 4th September 2016.

Thank you all for your continued support and here’s looking forward to an exciting 2016/17 hockey season for the South Berkshire

Hockey Club Junior Section.