Your Club Needs You Socks AWS
Your Club Needs You To be more precise, your new clubhouse needs you You have been well aware, for what seems to be ages, that we are building a new clubhouse, for the benefit of all Sports Club members - and the general public too. You have also known that we are still short of money to complete the project. So, putting the situation very simply : - without more funds, the new pavilion will not be finished internally, - we have been begging for donations from everybody; - very few Club members have made a donation; - the Club needs your donations. Please visit https://www.justgiving.com/belpermeadows-communitysportsclub to see how much more we need - and avoid embarrassment by adding your name to the list of donors. Everybody should be helping the Club in its time of need. Very many thanks to all those who have given, to help improve the local facilities for all of us to enjoy. (OK - so you noticed, I'm trying to beg and shame you at the same time.) Steve Ford
Socks
THE NAILER this month: • • • • • • •
Your Club Needs You ! Junior Boys & Girls The Duncan Interview Mini Hoc Clubhouse News Season’s Best Socks !
The Perfect Christmas Gift! We now have a large supply of Belper Socks (Home and Away) available for purchase. This is the last time we will have socks with the club name on them for the next few years Available in three sizes 12-2 £6 per pair 3-6 £8 per pair 7-11 £8 per pair Any profit we make on these will be donated to the new clubhouse fund. Liz Griffiths and Audra Selby should have socks at Mini Hoc and Junior sessions Also available to order from team captains Steve Mills & Christine Hallsworth
1
Mini Hoc to 1st Team When looking back at the Club’s centenary book “100 Years of Hockey” I spotted a reference to Ross Duncan scoring the winning goal at a Midlands U11’s final in 2004/5. By chance I saw Ross a few days later when he briefly captained the 1st team for the first time. (He lasted less than five minutes before a hamstring injury forced him off the pitch!). I thought it would be good to ask Ross about his journey from Junior Hockey to first team regular and see if he could offer any advice to aspiring youngsters. He makes no mention of hiding inside a goalkeepers bag, the time he upset the scariest man I have ever seen on a hockey pitch or the difficulty he once had with an i.d. card but he provides some interesting answers! How old were you when you started playing hockey? It’s hard to remember exactly but I think I was either seven or eight. Apart from my time away at University I’ve played at Belper ever since. What first attracted you to hockey? I didn’t really know much about it , but a few close friends played and they seemed to like it so I thought I’d give it a go. I really enjoyed it and I’ve been playing ever since. Did you play any other sports when you were younger? I played quite a lot of football until I was about fourteen but I wasn’t very good, so I thought I’d stick with hockey. For me it was quite an easy choice but I know some of my friends found it difficult to decide. How old were you when you played your first senior game? I must have been twelve or thirteen and started with in the 7th team with Steve Ford. At that stage did you have any thought that you might make it to the first team? Absolutely not! I was just happy to be taking the next step and hoping to get picked again the following week. You progressed through the senior teams pretty quickly. Were there any times when things didn’t go well and how did you cope with it? Sometimes I didn’t jump up as fast as I hoped and sometimes I saw other juniors getting picked ahead of me. It didn’t always feel fair but I knew if I stuck at it my chance would come. You made your 1st team debut in the National League side. What do you remember about that? I think I was sixteen at the time, Graham Joyce gave me my debut. I remember being quite nervous but a very noisy Neill Slane shouting mainly positive things at me helped me settle in. What do you think helped you get to that level? Hard work and dedication! By that time I was doing both junior and adult training on a Tuesday, first team squad training on a Thursday, playing adult hockey on a Saturday and then either travelling with the first team or playing junior hockey on a Sunday. It was a massive commitment, especially at a time I should probably have been concentrating on school work as well, but I wouldn’t change it What’s the best advice you’ve received from a coach? I’ve been lucky enough to play under some fantastic coaches at Belper, Ian Lane ,Graham Joyce and Ben Lamb come to mind, but the stand out moments for me were the season I played in the second team with Lozza (Paul Lawrence). He taught me a lot that year and my development owes a massive amount to him and I know he is sorely missed throughout the club. Do you have any match day rituals or superstitions? Best match day preparation is not to have a few beers the night before……I do have a few match day rituals. The main one is always tying my laces at least two or three times before the game starts. Preparation is the key! What do you consider your greatest hockey achievement? Winning the U11 National final with Chris Bell, James Cozens and Joe Sharp and then going on to win the U18 Plate final with the same team mates. What is your proudest hockey moment? Strangely it’s not winning the National Finals. In the quarter final of the U18 plate I scored my only hat trick so I think it has to be that. What is your funniest hockey memory? Plenty that shouldn’t be spoken about! Do you have any advice for all those juniors who are attending Mini Hoc on a Sunday morning? Stick with it, work hard and listen to what the coaches are saying. It’s a great way to make long term friends and the best route into adult hockey. Many Thanks to interviewer Steve ‘The Mike’ Mills and Ross Duncan for this article and yes Lozza is sorely missed!! Anyone else wanting to share their hockey journey let me know! Email on the back of this issue. 2
Junior Girls
The Junior Girls section has grown in number this season from new players joining the club and girls moving up from mini hoc which is great to see! There are approx. 20 girls regularly attending the dedicated training session. We also welcome Richard Hollidge as the Lead Coach this season who, together with Charlie Beddington and Dan Ford, are doing great work with the girls! This season we entered the EH U14 Development Competition and the girls are doing well in their matches against relatively local teams such as West Bridgford, Ashby and Loughborough Town and are able to put their skills gained during coaching to good use! In addition we have friendly fixtures organised so the more the girls play with each other, the more they are growing in ability and confidence which bodes well for their progression through into the ladies squads! Sadly, we didn’t have enough girls for a regular U16 squad but many of those girls are playing regularly in the ladies squads. At the beginning of the season many of the girls attended training at the various Derbyshire Development Centres in Derbyshire and some are now playing in the County Squads and training at the Performance Centre! All good positive stuff! Julie Carter
Junior Boys
The Badgers have settled well into their league, and have played a total of 5 matches. We now have a large group of enthusiastic youngsters who all show great grit and determination, not afraid to tackle or be phased by the opposing team's adult players. The Badgers remain undefeated with three wins (Coalville, Melton and Leicester) and 2 draws (Ashby and Beeston). Kate Turner The U14 boys have made an impressive start to the season with a win against Lindum 8-0 and a win against Repton B 7-1 in the EH cup. We now face West Bridgford in February for our final match in the first round of the cup. Well done boys. Amanda Heath The U16 have lost their lost their opening two EH matches but with a much-improved team performance against Repton HC with the MOTM going to Matt Broadhead. (Thanks also to Matt for standing in really effectively for the Men’s 4 while I’ve been ill SE). The U16 indoor team has qualified for the Regional Round of the Competition by finishing 2 nd in the Derbyshire
Mini Hoc
October and November have been busy for the Belper MiniHoc kids with tournaments at Burton and Foremarke. The U10 girls continued their season with a 2nd tournament at Foremarke where they did themselves proud with a win, 2 draws and a loss against some serious opposition! The U12 girls, U10 boys and U12 boys made their first outings this month at Burton, holding their own against other teams in the county. The U12 boys look to be having a great time - can you spot who’s legs are disappearing off to the right?? Coming up in December, we are planning to raise some money for the clubhouse with a Sponsored ‘Beat the Goalie’ at training on December 3rd and 4th. We’ll be serving teas and coffees and selling cakes - along with some other stalls. Elizabeth Griffiths
3
Contacts Any articles, letters, pictures, offers of help! for ‘The Nailer’ please send to: Simon Emsley: [email protected] Ladies’ section contact Laura Harris [email protected] Men’s section contact: Steve Mills [email protected]
Season’s Best…...So Far There are a number of strong contenders for the ‘Season’s Best’ Were it down to a single fixture it would be hard to argue against the Men’s Over 40s who managed to win their opening cup fixture 17-0 even without their allegedly inspirational captain! Unfortunately that all came crashing down as they lost on penalties on 26th Nov. It should be noted though that Nick Morris scored one of the team goals of the season in those 17 and also a fantastic solo effort in the loss. The Men’s 1sts are top after ten games whilst the Men’s 5ths top their league. The Ladies 1sts who are second after ten games and are pressing hard for an immediate return to the National League. Their record suggests impressive defence is the key to their success, they have conceded only seven goals so far. Top scorers that have been notified to me: Ladies 1: Sally Goodman 7, Ladies’ 2: Annie Allum 4, Men’s 1: Sam Dixon 16, Men’s 2: Chris Bell 6, Men’s 3: Tom Greening 8, Men’s 4: Nick Morris 5, Men’s 5 Chris Morley Loads 16!! Men’s 6: Jack Spencer 2, Men’s 7: Richard Wellman 3, Steve Mills
Clubhouse Clarification There have been questions over the new clubhouse, I would like to clarify why The Board of Trustees (formally Management Committee) decided this direction for the Club. Trustees have the difficult job of balancing the books while providing a suitable, safe environment at the Club for sport and other activities. The Trustees are working hard to consider how best to secure the future provision at our club for the people of Belper and surrounding areas. Whilst considering this, the Trustees had several problems to deal with in relation to the new pavilion: 1. The old wooden tennis pavilion was contravening practically every area of legislation it was required to meet, from Health and Hygiene to separate changing and toilet facilities. The building was dangerous and not fit for purpose. 2. Planning permission for the portacabin toilets had expired, we have letters from Amber Valley demanding their removal . 3. As part of the 1997 grant to lay the first astroturf, we were supposed to provide toilet and changing facilities adjacent to the pitch. This never happened We therefore had to replace the wooden pavilion. In 2016, we explained at the AGM that we had tendered for a new single storey replacement for wooden pavilion, but with the criteria that we needed to be able to extend the building when we acquired more funds as we knew the single storey would not meet our needs. In fact, we would have grown out of it as soon as it was built. It became apparent during tendering that it would be best use of funds to build a 2 storey shell but only fit out the ground floor as Phase 1 and completing fit out of the upper floor as Phase 2 when funds allow. We then secured planning permission for a 2 storey building. This is the most effective use of funds for a Sports Club who want National League hockey, want to increase it's hard tennis courts to 5, provide a proper facility for our Bowls section and upgrade the brick pavilion for cricket. To improve the club we need to attract more members and along with sporting success we need better facilities to do this. Phase 1 is: Complete the 2 storey new pavilion with 3 sided viewing balcony, fit out the downstairs changing rooms and (bowls) clubroom. The upstairs and balcony will b accessible. Phase 2 is: Fundraising to fit out storey 2: toilets, lift, lighting, flooring, kitchen, and heating. On the fundraising front, Wendy and Judy have raised £100,000 in grants since 2016 for the floodlights and the new pavilion and still have several applications in for more grants and are awaiting replies. The Trustees are canvassing local businesses for their support and have the Justgiving/buy a brick schemes running. Some members are applying for 0% VAT status due to our Charity position. If we are granted this, it will be a huge boost to our funds. So, to those of you with reservations, the Sports Club had really very little option than to more forward in this particular direction. We have had many plans to replace the wooden pavilion in the past which have not come to fruition, this one is happening! We have plans to attract other sports to the Club to help revenue, but, for now, we just ask for the support of ALL our members in providing what will be a fantastic new opportunity for enjoying Belper Meadows Community Sports Club. If any members have questions please email me at the above address and I will ensure the Trustees receive and answer! Simon Emsley with many thanks to Wendy Morris and the Board of Trustees 4
Socks
THE NAILER this month: • • • • • • •
Your Club Needs You ! Junior Boys & Girls The Duncan Interview Mini Hoc Clubhouse News Season’s Best Socks !
The Perfect Christmas Gift! We now have a large supply of Belper Socks (Home and Away) available for purchase. This is the last time we will have socks with the club name on them for the next few years Available in three sizes 12-2 £6 per pair 3-6 £8 per pair 7-11 £8 per pair Any profit we make on these will be donated to the new clubhouse fund. Liz Griffiths and Audra Selby should have socks at Mini Hoc and Junior sessions Also available to order from team captains Steve Mills & Christine Hallsworth
1
Mini Hoc to 1st Team When looking back at the Club’s centenary book “100 Years of Hockey” I spotted a reference to Ross Duncan scoring the winning goal at a Midlands U11’s final in 2004/5. By chance I saw Ross a few days later when he briefly captained the 1st team for the first time. (He lasted less than five minutes before a hamstring injury forced him off the pitch!). I thought it would be good to ask Ross about his journey from Junior Hockey to first team regular and see if he could offer any advice to aspiring youngsters. He makes no mention of hiding inside a goalkeepers bag, the time he upset the scariest man I have ever seen on a hockey pitch or the difficulty he once had with an i.d. card but he provides some interesting answers! How old were you when you started playing hockey? It’s hard to remember exactly but I think I was either seven or eight. Apart from my time away at University I’ve played at Belper ever since. What first attracted you to hockey? I didn’t really know much about it , but a few close friends played and they seemed to like it so I thought I’d give it a go. I really enjoyed it and I’ve been playing ever since. Did you play any other sports when you were younger? I played quite a lot of football until I was about fourteen but I wasn’t very good, so I thought I’d stick with hockey. For me it was quite an easy choice but I know some of my friends found it difficult to decide. How old were you when you played your first senior game? I must have been twelve or thirteen and started with in the 7th team with Steve Ford. At that stage did you have any thought that you might make it to the first team? Absolutely not! I was just happy to be taking the next step and hoping to get picked again the following week. You progressed through the senior teams pretty quickly. Were there any times when things didn’t go well and how did you cope with it? Sometimes I didn’t jump up as fast as I hoped and sometimes I saw other juniors getting picked ahead of me. It didn’t always feel fair but I knew if I stuck at it my chance would come. You made your 1st team debut in the National League side. What do you remember about that? I think I was sixteen at the time, Graham Joyce gave me my debut. I remember being quite nervous but a very noisy Neill Slane shouting mainly positive things at me helped me settle in. What do you think helped you get to that level? Hard work and dedication! By that time I was doing both junior and adult training on a Tuesday, first team squad training on a Thursday, playing adult hockey on a Saturday and then either travelling with the first team or playing junior hockey on a Sunday. It was a massive commitment, especially at a time I should probably have been concentrating on school work as well, but I wouldn’t change it What’s the best advice you’ve received from a coach? I’ve been lucky enough to play under some fantastic coaches at Belper, Ian Lane ,Graham Joyce and Ben Lamb come to mind, but the stand out moments for me were the season I played in the second team with Lozza (Paul Lawrence). He taught me a lot that year and my development owes a massive amount to him and I know he is sorely missed throughout the club. Do you have any match day rituals or superstitions? Best match day preparation is not to have a few beers the night before……I do have a few match day rituals. The main one is always tying my laces at least two or three times before the game starts. Preparation is the key! What do you consider your greatest hockey achievement? Winning the U11 National final with Chris Bell, James Cozens and Joe Sharp and then going on to win the U18 Plate final with the same team mates. What is your proudest hockey moment? Strangely it’s not winning the National Finals. In the quarter final of the U18 plate I scored my only hat trick so I think it has to be that. What is your funniest hockey memory? Plenty that shouldn’t be spoken about! Do you have any advice for all those juniors who are attending Mini Hoc on a Sunday morning? Stick with it, work hard and listen to what the coaches are saying. It’s a great way to make long term friends and the best route into adult hockey. Many Thanks to interviewer Steve ‘The Mike’ Mills and Ross Duncan for this article and yes Lozza is sorely missed!! Anyone else wanting to share their hockey journey let me know! Email on the back of this issue. 2
Junior Girls
The Junior Girls section has grown in number this season from new players joining the club and girls moving up from mini hoc which is great to see! There are approx. 20 girls regularly attending the dedicated training session. We also welcome Richard Hollidge as the Lead Coach this season who, together with Charlie Beddington and Dan Ford, are doing great work with the girls! This season we entered the EH U14 Development Competition and the girls are doing well in their matches against relatively local teams such as West Bridgford, Ashby and Loughborough Town and are able to put their skills gained during coaching to good use! In addition we have friendly fixtures organised so the more the girls play with each other, the more they are growing in ability and confidence which bodes well for their progression through into the ladies squads! Sadly, we didn’t have enough girls for a regular U16 squad but many of those girls are playing regularly in the ladies squads. At the beginning of the season many of the girls attended training at the various Derbyshire Development Centres in Derbyshire and some are now playing in the County Squads and training at the Performance Centre! All good positive stuff! Julie Carter
Junior Boys
The Badgers have settled well into their league, and have played a total of 5 matches. We now have a large group of enthusiastic youngsters who all show great grit and determination, not afraid to tackle or be phased by the opposing team's adult players. The Badgers remain undefeated with three wins (Coalville, Melton and Leicester) and 2 draws (Ashby and Beeston). Kate Turner The U14 boys have made an impressive start to the season with a win against Lindum 8-0 and a win against Repton B 7-1 in the EH cup. We now face West Bridgford in February for our final match in the first round of the cup. Well done boys. Amanda Heath The U16 have lost their lost their opening two EH matches but with a much-improved team performance against Repton HC with the MOTM going to Matt Broadhead. (Thanks also to Matt for standing in really effectively for the Men’s 4 while I’ve been ill SE). The U16 indoor team has qualified for the Regional Round of the Competition by finishing 2 nd in the Derbyshire
Mini Hoc
October and November have been busy for the Belper MiniHoc kids with tournaments at Burton and Foremarke. The U10 girls continued their season with a 2nd tournament at Foremarke where they did themselves proud with a win, 2 draws and a loss against some serious opposition! The U12 girls, U10 boys and U12 boys made their first outings this month at Burton, holding their own against other teams in the county. The U12 boys look to be having a great time - can you spot who’s legs are disappearing off to the right?? Coming up in December, we are planning to raise some money for the clubhouse with a Sponsored ‘Beat the Goalie’ at training on December 3rd and 4th. We’ll be serving teas and coffees and selling cakes - along with some other stalls. Elizabeth Griffiths
3
Contacts Any articles, letters, pictures, offers of help! for ‘The Nailer’ please send to: Simon Emsley: [email protected] Ladies’ section contact Laura Harris [email protected] Men’s section contact: Steve Mills [email protected]
Season’s Best…...So Far There are a number of strong contenders for the ‘Season’s Best’ Were it down to a single fixture it would be hard to argue against the Men’s Over 40s who managed to win their opening cup fixture 17-0 even without their allegedly inspirational captain! Unfortunately that all came crashing down as they lost on penalties on 26th Nov. It should be noted though that Nick Morris scored one of the team goals of the season in those 17 and also a fantastic solo effort in the loss. The Men’s 1sts are top after ten games whilst the Men’s 5ths top their league. The Ladies 1sts who are second after ten games and are pressing hard for an immediate return to the National League. Their record suggests impressive defence is the key to their success, they have conceded only seven goals so far. Top scorers that have been notified to me: Ladies 1: Sally Goodman 7, Ladies’ 2: Annie Allum 4, Men’s 1: Sam Dixon 16, Men’s 2: Chris Bell 6, Men’s 3: Tom Greening 8, Men’s 4: Nick Morris 5, Men’s 5 Chris Morley Loads 16!! Men’s 6: Jack Spencer 2, Men’s 7: Richard Wellman 3, Steve Mills
Clubhouse Clarification There have been questions over the new clubhouse, I would like to clarify why The Board of Trustees (formally Management Committee) decided this direction for the Club. Trustees have the difficult job of balancing the books while providing a suitable, safe environment at the Club for sport and other activities. The Trustees are working hard to consider how best to secure the future provision at our club for the people of Belper and surrounding areas. Whilst considering this, the Trustees had several problems to deal with in relation to the new pavilion: 1. The old wooden tennis pavilion was contravening practically every area of legislation it was required to meet, from Health and Hygiene to separate changing and toilet facilities. The building was dangerous and not fit for purpose. 2. Planning permission for the portacabin toilets had expired, we have letters from Amber Valley demanding their removal . 3. As part of the 1997 grant to lay the first astroturf, we were supposed to provide toilet and changing facilities adjacent to the pitch. This never happened We therefore had to replace the wooden pavilion. In 2016, we explained at the AGM that we had tendered for a new single storey replacement for wooden pavilion, but with the criteria that we needed to be able to extend the building when we acquired more funds as we knew the single storey would not meet our needs. In fact, we would have grown out of it as soon as it was built. It became apparent during tendering that it would be best use of funds to build a 2 storey shell but only fit out the ground floor as Phase 1 and completing fit out of the upper floor as Phase 2 when funds allow. We then secured planning permission for a 2 storey building. This is the most effective use of funds for a Sports Club who want National League hockey, want to increase it's hard tennis courts to 5, provide a proper facility for our Bowls section and upgrade the brick pavilion for cricket. To improve the club we need to attract more members and along with sporting success we need better facilities to do this. Phase 1 is: Complete the 2 storey new pavilion with 3 sided viewing balcony, fit out the downstairs changing rooms and (bowls) clubroom. The upstairs and balcony will b accessible. Phase 2 is: Fundraising to fit out storey 2: toilets, lift, lighting, flooring, kitchen, and heating. On the fundraising front, Wendy and Judy have raised £100,000 in grants since 2016 for the floodlights and the new pavilion and still have several applications in for more grants and are awaiting replies. The Trustees are canvassing local businesses for their support and have the Justgiving/buy a brick schemes running. Some members are applying for 0% VAT status due to our Charity position. If we are granted this, it will be a huge boost to our funds. So, to those of you with reservations, the Sports Club had really very little option than to more forward in this particular direction. We have had many plans to replace the wooden pavilion in the past which have not come to fruition, this one is happening! We have plans to attract other sports to the Club to help revenue, but, for now, we just ask for the support of ALL our members in providing what will be a fantastic new opportunity for enjoying Belper Meadows Community Sports Club. If any members have questions please email me at the above address and I will ensure the Trustees receive and answer! Simon Emsley with many thanks to Wendy Morris and the Board of Trustees 4
