England Hockey Clubs 1st Award

New Milton Hockey Club Achieve National Clubs 1st Award

New Milton Hockey Club became only the 3rd club in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to achieve England Hockey’s Clubs 1st Award recently. This Sport England Clubmark Award is regarded as a sign of a modern hockey club and recognises that the club is providing a safe, effective and child friendly environment with a strong and efficient junior section.

The New Forest based club consists of 5 junior sides and 5 adult sides, all of which train and play at Priestlands School in Lymington. The club provides coaching and match play for over 100 youngsters. The junior squads are comprised of an under 16 girls’ team, 2 under 14 girls’ teams, under 14 boys’ and under 12 mixed section. There are over 12 children who have gained County honours with some of these in the process of advancing to regional level and 2 have reached national level. In addition several children have achieved junior umpiring awards.

New Milton’s team of 20+ volunteer coaches, managers, umpires and helpers, led by Sue and Andy Keys – Club Development Officers, have worked extremely hard over the past 12 months to satisfy the criteria and complete the accreditation process. Although the majority of the criteria have been in place for a while, the additional policies and procedures will undoubtedly aid the effective management of the club and its continued development. The Club now boasts 11 qualified senior level 1 coaches with a level 2 award imminent.

Ben Thompson, Hockey Development Officer for Sport Hampshire and IOW was delighted for the club ‘This is a fantastic achievement and well deserved! It reflects all the hard work Sue and her team have done over the last couple of seasons. I hope this inspires other clubs in the county to work towards accreditation.’

A very proud Sue Keys commented, ‘the process has been really worthwhile, it has allowed us to review our existing procedures, as well improving and introducing new policies which will continue to drive the club forward.’ The Club is continuing to work with local junior schools and has previously put coaches into Hordle, Lymington, Sway, Tiptoe, Pennington, Poulner, Ringwood and Fordingbridge schools. Representative teams have participated in an annual tournament. The Club is also hoping to provide further courses for youngsters wishing to progress with junior leadership and umpiring awards.

If you would like further information regarding playing or coaching opportunities at New Milton Hockey Club please visit www.newmiltonhockeyclub.co.uk