All posts by Craig Hockenhull

Ladies Section

Whitchurch Hockey ladies win summer 7 aside league

Whitchurch hockey ladies won the Telford and Wrekin 7 a side summer league on a wet Monday evening.

After a summer of eight Monday evening games Whitchurch went into the final playoff game for first / second place against Bloxwich ladies.

The game was a tight affair and Whitchurch could have been ahead within a minute of the start but for a brilliant save from the Bloxwich keeper.

As Whitchurch pushed for the opener Bloxwich broke and took the lead with their first attack. Whitchurch pushed straight back with Cath Reece-Gresty picking out Hayley Kellet who drove forward and passed to Heidi Groom to level the scores.

Within minutes Whitchurch took the lead as Sophie Jones drove down the right and picked out Groom for her second and a Whitchurch lead into the break.

Bloxwich came out the stronger of the two sides and despite many tackles from Rachel Chesters managed to scramble an equaliser. Bella Morris ran throughout closing down every Bloxwich attack and her pass to Heidi Carr in the dee drew the best from the Bloxwich keeper.

Bloxwich had a series of penalty corners which Whitchurch defended brilliantly and from the resulting 16 yard hit Reece-Gresty picked out Groom who ran into the dee and shot just wide of the advancing keeper.

The game ended in a draw and went to the best of 3 penalty strokes. Bloxwich took the first only for goalkeeper Gwyn Thomas-Rees to save the first shot. Freya Gresty stepped up for Whitchurch and calmly slotted the ball in the corner. Thomas- Rees then pulled off another save and this left Groom to convert and give Whitchurch the win.

The ladies would like to thank the squad of players who have participated over the nine games and to their captain Emma Stubbs who couldn’t make the final.

If you are interesting in joining the club for the coming season or trying hockey please contact us at secretary@whitchurchhockeyclub.com or keep up to date with the latest news via our website at www.whitchurchhockeyclub.com

General News

Whitchurch Town Council Grant successful

Whitchurch Hockey Club have successfully been awared a £500 grant by the Whitchurch Town Council.

The club plans to use the grant to purchase new goalkeeping helmets for their Academy to allow a greater range of players to try out a new skill.

Academy is for players aged 6 to 16 and is run on Saturday mornings from 10.00 to 11.30.

We are currently on a break but will restart in September.

Keep watching for further details.

General News

Introduction to Chairman – Martin Beecher

I find myself coming to role in 23-24 after Alex’s strong tender. I’d like to thank him for all his work and support for the club, his commitment through coaching both the Adult and Junior sections as well as chairman cannot have been a small commitment. Alex remains on the committee as Secretary and will continue to coach the squads as we move in to the 23/24 season.

I’ve been around Whitchurch Hockey Club for 8 years now since moving to the area and have always been made feel welcome. It’s a place I consider myself at home and I hope that’s the same for all our members.

I started playing hockey aged 16 in my hometown of Sheffield. When I went to Uni I played at Manchester Met. Following uni I moved to Sandbach and played for the next 4 years at Deeside Ramblers hockey club before taking up rugby and playing/captaining Sandbach 2nd XV for many years, whilst also teaching PE at Brine Leas in Nantwich.

After 8 years of teaching, I took a new opportunity and moved into the IT sector taking a role in London but with 3 children still in Aston sport took a back seat for some time as I commuted to and from on practically a weekly basis.

After doing this for 5 years I’d had enough of the big smoke and moved to Whitchurch with my now wife and children to try and live life a little more. This is when my journey with WHC began. I’ve played in both men’s teams depending on my ability to commit time over the years. I now have 5 children ranging from 16 to 4, time can be of a premium but last season I was finally able to find a good balance and committed to 90% of the season with the 1st team. Something I hope to be able to repeat this year (if of course required)!

I joined the committee early last year taking on the vacant secretary role and have enjoyed being able to steer some of the fine work this club does. I’m looking forward to doing more over this year, with the Ladies 1’s promotion last season there are challenging on pitch times ahead as some players move on to Uni and new opportunities, we hope the solid ladies’ section can step up and show strength in depth.

The Men’s sides remain relatively unchanged (a few of the boys moving off to Uni) however, with the return of a few of the old faces to the club and we will look to drive us forwards.

The Academy goes from strength to strength and the support of the likes of Barbora, Billy, John, Pete and Lisa are having a real impact on the future for our club. Thank you to all those who provide on and off pitch support to make these opportunities for the children.

Off the pitch I still work in the IT sector as a Senior International Service Manager and spend much of my time at my office in Belgium and on site with my sites/whitchurch-hockey-club/wp-contenters there. Thankfully I am well supported at home, and I enjoy the travel but coming home is always the best bit.

Outside of the hockey and 5 children there’s not much time for anything else but I enjoy cooking and like to travel with my wife when I can and sport in almost any capacity always plays an important part in my life.

Martin