Welcome back. It's 'hockey time' again. Woo hoo! I can't believe it's come around so soon but I'm looking forward it, and with good reason. We have new coaches, new facilities and a new strategy too.

As I mentioned in my recent message, we've been developing a new Junior Strategy. Phase one is to become Talent Certified - England Hockey's stamp of approval. We submitted our plan over the summer and they replied this week to say we're ready to begin the process straight away. Great news! It will take time and effort but hopefully they’ll soon be more of our juniors, like Sorrel Lee and Grace McAlister, representing Talent Academys. Thank you to all the coaches, managers and helpers for getting us to this stage. This is an endorsement of the enormous contribution you’ve made. This certification will dovetail with the BHHC Accelerate Program and our plans to run junior socials. More about both soon, but I can reveal that our new Junior Social Sec, Penny Telford, has been speaking to Monica about arranging some Friday evenings at clubhouse.

Our women's section will benefit from a new coaching team. Alex James has already made his mark on the 1s. Likewise, Meg Stoner has moved up to be 2s manager. What's more she'll continue to coach W3-4s and is taking U16G training, in order to smooth the transition between teams. Not everything is new though. Amanda Billington, Joey Bryant & Ali Wheatley continue to represent England Masters in their age groups and keep winning trophies! And Marie’s keeping it the same too; she’s looking forward to catching up with you all in the bar.

The men welcome back the 1s dream team of Chris, Daf, Carlo and Jonny. What's more Juan Sosa is back, fresh from representing Mexico in the Pan America Cup; as is the evergreen Sam Rose, who tells me he feels like a spring chicken (more on that in my mid-season update). They'll be looking to build on a strong second half of last season. And, just like our women, Jon Beal & Phil Withers have been tearing it up at the Masters European Championships.

On the umpiring front, we wish to congratulate Alan Gray for his recent award for South East Area member who makes contributions to officiating, to Dan Quinton for his award for Services to South East Hockey, and to Chris Lake for over 100 appointments.

I hope you all enjoyed Club Day and noticed the shiny new dugouts, plus the pitch-side container for storing kit. Thanks to Blatch and James Millar, respectively. As we move forwards, updating our other facilities, we'll share news. Talking of sharing news, expect Liv and Mirriam to send out the dates of this season’s socials soon. I can already tell you that we have a new venue for our annual Dinner Dance, which will be on 25th April, next year. Exciting times.

Inevitably, as we make changes there'll be blips. Please hang in there, it'll be worth it in the end. In fact, we're already starting to reap the rewards. With a renewed focus on junior development comes our ongoing commitment to safeguarding and welfare. Speaking as a parent, this matters, but everyone has a role to play in helping to create a safe, supportive, and fun environment. I've asked Rachel to share a brief aide-mémoire of what the club expects of all our members. Please take a moment to refresh your memory.

Talking of being a parent, I'm glad the BHHC Parkrun take-overs finished when they did. After lopping minutes off her PB, Evie's now only 9 seconds behind mine set back in 2014. But, if we can keep her focused on hockey for the whole season, I'll still have bragging rights, until then.

Enjoy the season and look after each other.

Cam
BHHC Chairman