2022 President Report

​​​​​​​

2022 was another year impacted by Covid-19. Although there were no restrictions the main impact was on teams with numerous player absences throughout the season. This being said the club managed to navigate the 2022 season very well with no game defaults

Again in 2022, the committee are unsung heroes and we thank them for their dedication and commitment to hockey and our club. Deidre Cumming, Nicky Keen, Tom Leov, Hannah Peattie, Jack Gilbert, Felix Rolls, Julie McFelin, and Bridget Edward. A big thank you to you all. 

On the Men's side of the club, we fielded five teams, with both the Midweek Men and Grass Men making respective finals for their grade with the Grass Men winning the championship for the first time in many years. The flagship CPL men finished in the top four and fell agonisingly close to defending their 2021 Championship after being knocked out of a new finals format. The Division One men, although having a mixed bag for the season have continued to improve and develop as well as being an incredibly valuable support for players playing up into the premier grade. The challenge for the men's side of the club is being able to field a Sunday league team that would complete the pathway for players from Platinum through to CPL. This continues to be a goal of the club with new initiatives underway to develop this pathway for our club members. 

On the women’s side we again fielded nine teams with our Sunday League Premiership  winning their grade this year. Our CPL women made the top 4  after missing out on that for the last 3 years losing to Harewood in the semis. They also won the challenge shield off Harewood and held it  for a week before losing it to Carlton Redcliffs in a close game the next week.  The team is developing well and we are hoping to retain most of the team again for next season.  Div had a mixed season as they continue to find a balance with the overlapping of the rowing and hockey season at the start of the season, and other commitments but when everyone was available they looked good and this was displayed in the game against harewood in the first round when they also won the challenge shield for their grade and kept it for a number of weeks. Our platinum teams found getting a full team on the field each week  a challenge with sickness affecting this grade ,but this meant players had the opportunity to play up and experience hockey at a different level. Our three teams all had great seasons and developed over the year.  Midweek has continued to prove to be a strong area for our club with three teams in the grade.  Two in the top division and one in the second, with two teams making the semi finals. A challenge for us is to maintain and encourage more experienced players in our weekend teams. 

In 2022 we were successful in completing fundraising for the club, we did this via one sausage sizzle at Mitre 10. We also had a cookie time fundraiser, which although was successful, the uptake from the club members was disappointing. We also received funding from the Mainland Foundation for Goalkeeping equipment and we thank Cam Spear for his work in this area for us.

Looking ahead to 2023, we face the same problems that confront the club about this time of the year each year. Filling positions on the committee. Funding. Team coaches.

Over many years, we have been heavily impacted by a lack of people coming forward to offer their help. This is therefore becoming increasingly hard to run the club and keep teams on the turf for both our senior and junior teams. 

If ANYONE has an interest in assisting the club, please contact us (hsobburnsidehockey@gmail.com). Club and/or committee members have the intellectual knowledge to assist new volunteers to complete tasks, but the hours they have available during hockey season are already exhausted.

Finally, our thanks to all our players, coaches, managers, umpires, parent helpers, and supporters.  

Hannah Peattie

Secretary