Hockey in the Community
The new Sunday afternoon mixed hockey league proved to be a success. The Beeston mixed team were the eventual winners of the league. Another mixed league is being planned for the second half of the season that should see the number of entries to the league grow.
A Quicksticks competition took place in October at the hockey centre with 24 local primary schools taking part.
The Hockey in the Community Schools league for years 9 & 10 took place once again in October and November. The number of schools taking part increased once again with 21 teams entering across the boys and girls leagues. Special thanks to Kay Bond who organised the leagues.
A hockey festival was organised at The Long Eaton School with 12 teams taking part. Colin Booth and his team of coaches helped ensure the festival ran smoothly.
An England Hockey level 1 umpires course took place on the 23rd October with 24 members taking part.
Beeston men’s and ladies 1st teams were featured on BBC East Midlands Today and Notts TV in October following their success start to this seasons league campaign.
Events
A number of exciting events have now been confirmed for next year. The events for 2017 are listed below.
26th February – Nottinghamshire U10 and U12 Boys and Girls In2Hockey Championships
27th February – David Ross Educational Trust Spring Cup
9th April – England Hockey Play-Off Weekend 1
21st-23rd April – Association of Colleges (AOC) Hockey Championships
27th April – Civil Service Ladies Hockey Tournament
27th-28th April – Civil Service Men’s Hockey Tournament
30th April – Regional U12 Boys and Girls In2Hockey Championships
6th-7th May – Men’s County Championships B and C Division Finals – TBC
12th May – England Hockey In2Hockey Schools Finals
13th May – England Hockey In2Hockey Clubs Finals
20th-21st May – Men’s County Championship A Division Finals – TBC
27th-28th May – Nottingham Hockey Centre Festival Weekend
9th-11th June – UK U13 Boys Hockey Festival
5th July – Nottingham School Games
8th-9th July – World Corporate Games
15th-23rd July – 6 Nations U18 Boys and Girls International Event
The Christmas Party tent is back once again this year. This years theme is ‘Dream Circus’. There are 15 nights of evening entertainment planned with up to 1300 guests per night. The events should have limited impact on the hockey centre and bookings in the evening.
New for this year was a charity run day time event in the Christmas tent for 700 senior citizens who travelled from across the midlands for lunch and entertainment including a performance from Darren Day!
Repairs and improvements
The front entrance gates are to be widened to allow two way traffic in and out of the site. The works are due to take place in January 2017. This will involve removing the existing gate posts and moving them onto the grass either side of the road. A new set of larger gates will be manufactured. Remedial works to the tarmac and kerb stones will take place once the gates have been widened.
In November the central heating boiler that was installed in 2001 gave up the ghost and had to be replaced. The new boiler is much more efficient and takes up less space in the plant room.
As part of England Hockey’s trial with small sided games new pitch dividers are to be installed for pitch 1 and 2. These will allow each pitch to be divided in to 3 pitches. The pitch dividers will be similar to the wire and net system currently used on pitch 2 and 3 however the system will be temporary and installed as required.