NEWSLETTER. Club Announcements. Distribution is handled by Junior Administrator, Joy Henson:

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1 NEWSLETTER Sunday 30 th March-13 th April 2014 Club Announcements Welcome to Marden Russets Junior Section s newsletter, which is ed to members, families and friends every week. All news needs to be sent to Carol Ridge: familyridge@fastmail.co.uk by Tuesday at 6pm. Photos of matches or any hockey-related issues are always welcome. This is the last newsletter of the season as only the U12 Boys continuing to practise for their Regional Finals at the end of April. The provisional start date for next season is Sunday 7 th September. You can also view the newsletter on the Marden Russets website in the Juniors section, along with archive copies from earlier in the season, club registration forms and this year s Junior Brochure: Distribution is handled by Junior Administrator, Joy Henson: russetsmarden@yahoo.co.uk U12 Boys train with Brazilian international and ex Marden player, Stéphane Vehrle-Smith

2 Goalkeepers Please return all goalkeeping kit to your respective coaches so that Paul Hamlyn can meet them at the clubhouse to check and put in the cupboard for next season. Paul s Mobile Tel: Club Dinner by Zoe Sage This year s end of season Club Dinner took place on 5th April at the London Beach Golf Club in Tenterden. A great night was had by all, with many feeling the effects the following day! A huge thank you to everyone who attended; it was such a fantastic evening. We had a great turn out, featuring some of the young members of the club in the form of the U16/U18 Boys and Girls. Here are some of the highlights... David Eltringham not only claimed the Clubman award this year, he was also crowned winner of Heads & Tails! Well done David! Nick Burge scooped Most Valuable Player. Congratulations Nick! Megan had an outstanding year on the pitch and was deservedly the Most Improved Player. The Men s 1st team provided us with copious amounts of entertainment and not only spent the most at the bar but also in the auction! Ben Bardsley, Dan Wickham and Sam Traill all won super prizes (even if they had to be reminded of this the next day)! One huge aspect that wasn't mentioned on Saturday was that the Charity Events at London Beach raise valuable funds, with 100% of the food bill being donated back to charities of our choice. We chose Cancer Research and the Stroke Association after sadly losing our Marden friends: Bob Carmichael, Gerard Venes, and Sandra Wickham in recent years. I thought this was a superb idea and it was the reason why I chose the venue.

3 Club Dinner contd... Happy end of season folks - have a great Easter and summer! England Hockey Survey England Hockey s vision is for England to be a Nation Where Hockey Matters. A nation where hockey is talked about at dinner tables, playgrounds and public houses, up and down the country. A nation where our sport is on the back pages of our newspapers, where children dream of scoring a goal for England s senior hockey team, and where our performance stirs up emotion amongst the many, not the few. Please complete the survey on their website by this Sunday 13 th April, whether you are a player, a parent, a coach or committee member, so that you can help them to gather information which will help them to achieve their vision: 91ME,3A21ZJ,85LOP,1 Totally Hockey Summer Courses Totally Hockey will once again be running their popular summer courses for children aged 10-16, featuring intensive coaching by Great Britain International and Olympian, John Shaw, and a team of international players and qualified coaches. The Marden course will run for three days from Tuesday 26 th Thursday 28 th August The St Leonard s School, Mayfield course will run for two days from Monday 1 st Tuesday 2 nd September Please contact Marcus via: to register and for further information.

4 Sunday Summary - The Week That Was Rob Hillier, U12 Boys On Sunday 30 th March the U12 Boys joined forces with the U11 and U12 Girls for a fun, internal club tournament. With five competitive teams the girls and boys played in good spirits, turning out some really decent hockey and excitement. Now, at the end of the season, it is wonderful to see the improvement that they have made; watching some of the boys play, who were new to the game in September, is especially satisfying. Although this was the last official session of the season we still have the Southern Counties Regional Finals to play for on 27th April and will continue to train hard for this. Selection for the squad is taking place after a special training session led by Brazilian international, and former MCHC junior, Stéphane Vehrle-Smith last Tuesday 8th April - this was a great opportunity for our U12s. Once selected, the squad will then train on the following dates: Sunday 13 th April am Tues 15 th April pm Tues 22 nd April pm (final selection for the tournament will be made on this date)

5 U14 Girls U16 Girls Paul Pashley, Under 16 Girls U14 Girls at their tournament at Sevenoaks last month We ended the season with a disappointing 5-1 loss to Folkestone, as we were 1-1 at half time and the game looked evenly poised and if anything we were looking the more likely team to score next. However, we shipped four goals during a period of 10 minutes when we seemed to lose concentration when our marking fell off and we were not winning the 50:50 situations. Otherwise the game was evenly-matched and we had our share of chances. Other than the 10 minute period, the team looked good and moved the ball well and our stronger communication skills were much in evidence. Turning now to the season as a whole - Charlotte, Charlie and I have enjoyed the season but, like you, are probably looking forward to some Sundays off! The season has had mixed results in terms of matches and for me a highlight was the away match against Tunbridge Wells during which we put in a very powerful performance against skilful opposition and gave them a real shock! Their coach was very impressed with the Marden team, saying that the game could have gone either way. Our girls really rose to the challenge and gave every ounce of energy and commitment that could have been asked of them.

6 All through the season, whichever of our players were involved, we always know we will compete, tackle hard, play fairly and with enjoyment and we never let our heads drop - all great attributes for any team. I think our players do suffer from the lack of exposure to senior hockey because many of the teams we play have a decent proportion of their side who are getting adult hockey every Saturday, and this does make a difference. From a coaching perspective the skills development of the players has definitely come on and we have certainly observed some great improvements, particularly: communication between players is much better; on-pitch positioning improved, less hiding behind opposition players; more powerful hitting - not always consistent, but again much better; vision and awareness of what is going on around; stick skills; channelling and fitness. All things we have worked on and which are becoming ingrained and are a good basis upon which to build a strong capability. So a big 'thank you' to our players, who have displayed tenacity against some tough opposition, have played with skill and have put in loads of effort. We have enjoyed coaching you and we have all had some good laughs along the way as well. Thanks coming along to our sessions despite having to endure some appalling weather and for listening to us - you have been a pleasure to coach. Finally, many thanks to all the squad parents for replying to s, being there to support despite some appalling weather conditions and for sorting out the transport arrangements when I am sure you had plenty of other things you could have been doing on a Sunday! Turning now to next season: For those remaining in the U16 Girls age group - Charlie Ridge will be Head Coach and Andrew Knatchbull is going to provide assistance. If there are any parents who would like to help on the coaching side or on the administration side (not particularly difficult but very helpful to the coaches) then that would be most welcome - please let Charlie know: c.ridge@impaxam.com U18 Girls Team? For those leaving the U16 Girls age group - Charlotte and I are considering whether to run an U18 Girls side next season - what we have in mind is some training on occasional Sundays pre-christmas and then some friendly matches and possibly entering the England knock-out competition. We think that this will help bridge the gap between junior and senior hockey and would allow the girls to continue playing on a Sunday instead of a Saturday as so many of our squad have school commitments. This can only go ahead if we have enough interest - we are aware that you are entering a demanding period of school life when you have other pulls on your time but it would be helpful to know whether or not you might be up for this. Please get in touch: paul.pashley@btinternet.com