With September fast approaching and hopefully everyone starting to contemplate the season ahead, we have a few key positions still unfilled that we require volunteers for. All roles come with plenty of support and established processes and just require a steady attentive hand to keep momentum going! Please consider the following opportunities and whether you could bring something to the role in the 26/27 season. All volunteers get an 80% discount on membership, and a whole lot of gratitude!

Head of Junior Hockey – A slightly renamed role for this season. The Head of Junior Hockey role is not a coaching position but a coordination role driving standards and planning for the junior section to support and inspire the coaches and administrators that are already in place for the coming year (just to re-state, there is no hunting for coaches left to do this Summer, we're good to go). Sitting on the committee, this position is important to push our Junior section as far as possible and would suit someone organised and ambitious for the future of the club. Prior knowledge of the junior section and coaching would be beneficial but there’s so much more this position can bring to the table.

Fixtures Sec – Required to maintain and update pitch bookings during the season and get involved with fixture planning this time next year. We’ve been incredibly lucky to have some excellent fixtures secs in the past years who are still around to help having moved onwards and upwards to other roles within the club, meaning plenty of training will be provided. This role would suit anyone who enjoys a spreadsheet and checks WhatsApp.

Umpire Liaison – Contrary to popular belief, not specifically required to have umpired before or plan to umpire in the future - in fact filling this position might be the most valid exemption from being expected to hold a whistle should you wish. The Umpire Liaison oversees getting two umpires to each home game, growing the number of umpires within the club, and encouraging progression through umpiring qualifications. We have a bank of experienced umpires to call upon for assistance, and very established processes for umpire placement. This position would suit someone persistent and persuasive.

Goalkeeper Captain - The intention of the club is to have specialist goalkeeper provision, and this works best if there's a representative for the keepers union to take responsibility. Feeding in to the Head of Adult hockey, the Goalkeeper Captain will have input on frequency of specialist training and will drive attendance of these sessions, as well as represent the interests of keepers at South Berks.

Coaching Assistants for u8 and u10 Junior Hockey – We can never get enough help in the junior section, and how many kids we can accept into the club is directly proportional to the number of helpers we have. With lead coaches already in place and planning sessions, a role as an assistant might look like anything from laying out cones and showing encouragement to a young player playing for the first time, to leading drills yourself and taking your first steps into coaching. Junior sessions take place 9am-Noon on a Sunday morning and while it’s great if you can make every session, all help is appreciated and attendance rate is an easy discussion we can have. Help offered for other age groups will also be considered and appreciated!

Please feel free to reach out to chair@southberkshirehockeyclub.org.uk or by WhatsApp if you’d like to discuss any of the above roles. Equally if you have time to give but don’t see anything that suits you here, please don’t be a stranger as we can never have too much help!