Welcome to Woking Hockey Club 

This is the Official Woking Hockey Club website. Here you will find lots of information regarding both the social and playing aspects of the club. Please check out the rest of our website to find out what we can offer you. We are always keen to welcome new players. If you are interested in joining Woking Hockey Club, please click here. 
 
 
Boys Under 18s WIN the Mercian League Finals!
Woking had to overcome a stubborn Gerrards Cross in the semi-final who prior to the game were a relatively unknown quantity. Despite going behind early in the second half, Woking struck back emphatically with a double from Ollie Sugg at consecutive penalty corners, and Giles Rozier-Pamplin wrapping up the victory with just minutes to spare...Read more.
 
 
 
 
 
Boys Under 18s Narrowly Miss The National Cup
 

On Saturday 31st March, Woking Boys U18s came within minutes of National glory, only an hour after beating Southgate 5-1 in the semi-final they very narrowly missed out on clinching the National Cup in a 3-1 defeat by Wycombe in the final held at Oxford Hawks Hockey Club. In a closely contested game, the scores were tied at 1-1 with less than three minutes to go, when Wycombe were awarded a penalty stroke. The rest, as they say, is history, but the boys can be incredibly proud of their achievements this season, having beaten the likes of Reading, Surbiton, Cannock and Southgate (and countless others!) in both league and Cup. It's not all over for them either, and with a Mercian League Quarter Final play-off match to come on the 22nd of April against Bromley & Beckenham, they may well have the chance to take another crack at Wycombe on the 6th May.

Heartfelt thanks to everyone who came along to support on Saturday, it made the occasion all the more special and was greatly appreciated by the boys, the coaching staff and the management team. Although desperately disappointing not to have lifted the cup this time around, I am certain that each and every player in the squad has a bright hockey playing future ahead of them and for those off to university this year, we wish them every success.

Rik Farrer, U18s Manager

 
New Players Welcome
Woking HC is looking for players of all standards and abilities to join the 2012-13 party! We are especially looking for women goalkeepers as positions across the club are available but all outfield players are of course equally welcome. The ladies 1st XI play in the Women’s’ South League Div 1 and are realistically looking to reach the National League play-offs next season after building and consolidating the team this year. Woking runs six ladies teams and nine men’s teams, as well as a mixed team- plus there is a really fun social side to the club! So what are you waiting for!
 
 
 
Club Treasurer Role Filled
Further to our advertisement for a Club Treasurer, we are happy to announce that Ketan Patel has stepped forward and is willing to take this important role on. If anyone else is interested in getting involved then they should let Katy Robinson know at secretary.whc@btinternet.com, otherwise we will be looking for the club to vote Ketan in at the AGM on Saturday 28th April.
 
 
 
 
HockeyFever Hockey Courses 2012
HockeyFever runs independent hockey courses in Woking, Surrey.
Their aim is to to lead all the kids on their courses to a love of hockey by improving their skills and leading them closer to their potential. They believe that the best way to do this is by creating a fun and welcoming atmosphere in which to develop.
 
If anyone has any queries, please contact Sam Way on info.hockeyfever@gmail.com or 07805523606 or check out www.hockeyfever.co.uk.
 
To book please click here. For HockeyFever's terms and conditions, please click here. 
 
 
Woking Colts Make England Regional Squads!
We are proud to announce that 4 of our junior members have been selected for England Hockey Regional squads this Autumn. 
 
Lucy Poffley (an U17) attended the High Performance Assessment Camp (HiPAC) on October 7-9  at which she trained with some of the country's finest coaches. As an integral step on the Single System ladder, the HiPACs aim to show players in the U15 and U17 age groups that training is as important as competition and they were taken through a number of sessions on the pitch and in the classroom.
 
Phoebe Bryant, Matt Ming and Chris Way will all compete at either the U16 or U18 "Futures Cup", which is a competition based on a Junior International tournament.  Two days of training/preparation are held in October prior to the squads coming together for the competition in Cannock which takes place from 27th - 30th October. 
 
All players are keen to acknowledge the support & coaching provided from everyone (coaches, team mates & committee) at the club to get them to where they are. Most of their training and encouragement has come from the club, both at colts and senior levels, and they thank everyone for giving them the opportunity for such a great experience.
 
We, in turn, congratulate them on their achievements and wish them all the very best of luck!
 
Near Pitch Improvements
Following the new pitch installation last season, the near pitch (more recently associated with buckets and spades!) is having several tonnes of sand taken removed to enhance the playing surface. See the progress below:
 
       
 
 
 
 
    
 
 
BU18s: Mercian Meague Quarter Finals, Sunday 22nd April 2012
Woking’s u18s bounced back from the agony of cup final defeat to smash ten for no reply past Bromley & Beckenham in the quarter final of the Mercian League play offs...... Read more.
 
 
1st April 2012:
 
 
League / Cup / Friendly
Home
Away
Result
Win / Loss
BU12
Wessex League Div 2 North
Woking
Yateley
5 - 0
WON
BU14
Development League
Teddington
Woking
3 - 2
Loss
BU14
National Cup
Woking
Various
7 - 0 / 8 - 0 / 4 - 1
WON / WON / WON
BU16
Wessex League Div 1
Woking
Andover
1 - 0
WON
BU18
National Cup Finals
Various
Woking
1 – 5 / 3 - 1
WON / Loss
 
BU18s: National Cup Final, Saturday 31st March 2012
So we were through to the National U18’s Cup Final, just 12 months after we had won the Plate competition. What an achievement. We were facing a side that in January had won the National U18’s Indoor Championship...... Read more.
 
BU18s: National Cup Semi-Final, Saturday 31st March 2012
The waiting was over. We were up against a Southgate side with a lot of Regional experience and with a USA U18’s International, Joe Ghandi, on the pitch. Rumour had it we were very much the underdogs, but we weren’t listening to rumours...... Read more.
                                                    
 
  
Ladies Vets Need a Goalie!!
After many years of dutiful service, our legendary goalie Sue has recently left the Woking area and the Woking Ladies Vets team. As such, we are URGENTLY looking for a new one!
 
 

We are a friendly side which plays competitively but cheerfully!

Having been promoted at the end of last season, we now play in Surrey Division 4 and are looking to at least maintain, but ideally improve, our standing this season.

We do not train in the conventional sense of the word (i.e. weekly sessions of running around), but do get together for social events at every given opportunity!

If you are interested, please contact Vets Captain, Caroline at caroline.peedell@xilinx.com.

   
Latest News From England Hockey
Grow Your Own - a phrase we are all getting used to, not only in the world of gardening but also in the world of hockey clubs. Hundreds of clubs nationwide are growing their own coaches, volunteers and officials. But this season, another shoot appeared as clubs continued to grow their own players.


The BIG 5 Clubs
Surbiton HC       
832
@surbitonhc
735 
@richmondhcskip
Spencer HC       
622
 
Reading HC        
606
@readinghc
Woking HC          
594
@wokinghockey

All of the BIG 5 have had outstanding seasons on and off the field. Surbiton's main growth has come from it's junior section but a surge in success for the senior sides also saw some newcomers
Richmond HC has become somewhat famous, due to @richmondhcskip appearing on twitter. Their home ground at Chiswick is also set to host The London Cup in July, and the club will be involved on the volunteer front.

Spencer HC have one of the longest waiting lists in the country for their young people. As ever, facilities restrict the number of places a club has available. Their fantastic work within the community is helping their numbers to rocket.

Reading HC have seen amazing success on the field with the Ladies 1's taking home the EHL crown, and the Mens 1's off to the European final 4s. They have a huge junior section and great development plans in place to help young people get from grassroots through to the performance side of the club.

Woking HC have an astounding junior set up. A dual pitch club fully utilise their faciilties and run an amazing amount of junior hockey. A great deal of volunteering hours goes into making Woking the well oiled machine we see at junior and senior levels.

All of these clubs are ClubsFirst Accredited, and registered for Grow Your Own. Follow these great clubs on Twitter!

The BIG 5 Growers

This season has seen some great clubs show their potential, and show how a good infrastructure is starting to see them grow.

Blueharts HC
Cambridge City HC
Nottingham Players HC
Triton HC
West Herts HC

All have grown by over 50 people, from juniors through to seniors.

The BIG Hearts Clubs

It isnt always about being a huge club. For every large club, there is a small club working just as hard to offer hockey to their communities. Our BIG 5 hearts clubs go to a handful of ClubsFirst clubs who work hard season after season to offer the game to their community. This list could have been hundreds of clubs long!

Teign HC
Longridge HC
Ottery Crickets
Wigton HC
Matlock Baileans HC

All information is taken from the affiliation statistics, a full list can be downloaded here. If you feel your numbers are incorrect, please update them by asking your club administrator to access EHB affiliation on fixtures live.
 
The Boys Under 14s and Under 16s achieved an unprecedented double in the Mercian League Finals at Southgate on 8th May. For both age groups to qualify for the "Finals Day" was an excellent achievement, but for both to be victorious against the top sides in the South of England was unbelievable.
 
 
 
Double Victory for Boys Under 14s and Under 16s
The Boys Under 14s and Under 16s achieved an unprecedented double in the Mercian League Finals at Southgate on 8th May. For both age groups to qualify for the "Finals Day" was an excellent achievement, but for both to be victorious against the top sides in the South of England was unbelievable.

First up, the Boys U14s won the semi-final against Purley Walcountians by 3-1, and we were lucky that in the other semi-final, Canterbury (who had beaten us 3 times in the last year) were knocked out by Southgate. In the final, we were 1-0 up at half time against the hosts, and then went 2-0 half way through the second half when a perfectly weighted through ball from Eddie Way found Man of the Match Matthew Cornwell who calmly took it round the keeper to score. We conceded with 5 minutes to go and then had to hang on for a 2-1 victory.
 
 
By the time the Under 14s presentation had finished, the Under 16s had started their semi final against Canterbury and were already 0-1 to a penalty stroke in the 2nd minute. Still 0-1 down at half time, we stormed back with 3 second half goals to win comfortably in the end by 3-1. The final was against Wycombe who were top of the Premier League with 7 wins out of 7 and National Finalists, but we raced into a 3-0 lead at half time, with the goal of the season by Man of the Match Chris Way, reverse sticked in off the under side of the cross bar. Early in the second half it was 4-0, but the tide turned and we were soon pegged back to 4-2 and down to 9 players, but some desperate defending allowed us to break away in the final minute to make it 5-2.
 
Congratulations to all the boys, and also the Coaching Teams of David Knapp for the Under 14s and Vin-Sing Ming for the Under 16s.
 
 
 
Club Day WINNERS!
Hopefully everyone enjoyed Club Day. Below is an image of the Winning team:
 
 
 
Woking Hockey Club Achieves England Hockey ClubsFirst Award! 
 
 
 
After a year of hard work from members in all sections of the club, we successfully passed our England Hockey "ClubsFirst" assessment on Friday, 31st July 2009 and are now proud holders of the prestigious ClubsFirst Award.

For the assessment, one of England Hockey's Development Officers came to the club and conducted a range of checks and interviews to ensure that the club provides a safe, effective and child friendly hockey environment.

The ClubsFirst award is a national recognition for clubs that can demonstrate that they are working towards minimum operating standards. All clubs achieving ClubsFirst also achieve the Sport England Clubmark accreditation, a nationally recognised award for sports clubs.

As part of the club's work towards achieving this award, a range of club policies and future objectives have been updated and developed. All these policies are available on the club's website, and include:
 
  • Club Equity Policy
  • Club Child Protection Policy
  • Club Health and Safety Policy
  • Codes of Conduct for Coaches, volunteers, spectators and parents
  • Junior Club Rules
 
Please take a look to make sure you are fully up to date with all the club's policies!
Linda Jacks, who led the club through the Award, is emphatic about the benefits to the club, saying "It's incredible how working through the requirements of the award ended up meaning we have overhauled the whole club.  A major benefit is that it has stimulated increased communication between different sections of the club, and within the colts section, resulting in a new focus and determination to move the club forward."
 
The club has already benefited from achieving the award by receiving funding from both England Hockey (£49k) and the National Hockey Foundation (£40k) for our new pitch. Quite simply, we would not have qualified to receive this funding if we didn't have the ClubsFirst award.
 
The club will also benefit in a number of additional ways:
 
  • As part of the award requires the club to write a four year development strategy for the club and a one year action plan, it ensures that the club will retain its focus over the next four years and continue to develop.
  • The club will be more attractive to new players and coaches seeking to move clubs, and it should thus aid recruitment.
  • The award required the club to develop a season long coaching programme for the Colts section.  This will ensure greater continuity between the age groups, and ultimately the transition into the senior section of the club, and will result in colts receiving improved and more structured coaching.
  • Achieving the award confirms that the club meets the necessary child safety standards, particularly with regard to child protection policies and CRB (Criminal Record Bureau) checks for nominated volunteers working in the colts section. 
  • Over the last year, the club has run young umpire and coaching courses, which will ensure that it support their colts not only as players but as future coaches and officials.  The club will now run such courses annually. 
 
Please contact Linda Jacks (familyjacks@btinternet.com) if you have any questions about the award.