University of Warwick Mens Hockey Club

Wednesday 30th July brings us an all-day tournament to look forward to with a BBQ down on the bottom field from 12pm lasting well into the evening. Something along the lines of £3 for entry and £1-2 for a burger means that it won’t break the bank either guys. And it’s all for the Royal Marsden Cancer Campaign. Should be a cracking day.

It’s the one we’ve all been waiting for. Tom Morton’s old boys take on Graham Cox’s generation of the future in a titanic clash at Fortress Westwood.

The game will be played on Saturday 26th of June, the morning of Sports Ball, with a meet time of 11.30am.

The rest of the details are on the forum, so if you want to play, sign up in there and if you don’t, come and offer your support to what promises to be a thoroughly entertaining game and an excellent way to warm up for the evening’s celebrations.

Over the Easter Holiday, 18 magnificent men jetted off to the Italian resort of Rimini to play some hockey and to unwind after a long, hard season. The squad worked hard on and off the pitch and were not surprisingly crowned European Champions following an epic win against Liverpool Hope in the final. Despite the vast majority of the crowd spurring on the opposition Harry Wilson was able to ignore the pressure to slot home the all-important goal. Alf Heath led his men magnificently throughout the week and the trophy ceremony was a moment that was cherished by all. The tour party also enjoyed four superb nights and even found time to fit in the much anticipated beach cricket event, with Alex Evans and Ben Boss deserving special mentions for their performance with bat and ball. Tour Sec Jonathan Butcher managed to predict the Icelandic volcanic eruption and intelligently arranged for bus transport months in advance of the trip, ensuring that all tourists returned home safely to the UK.

Training will continue in the summer term in preparation for the forthcoming season, the times are as follows:

1s and 2s: Monday 4.30pm – 6.00pm

3s and 4s: Friday: 5 – 6.30pm

Please make every effort to attend these sessions, there will be minimal fitness and it should provide a good break from revision. Captains will be using them as an early indicator of squads for next year, so if you can’t attend for whatever reason, do let them know.

Windmill Village Hotel hosted the annual Hockey Ball this Saturday, which was attended by over 100 guests from the Mens, Ladies and Mixed Hockey Clubs. The evening featured a superb three course meal, a World Champion DJ and a speech and awards ceremony from each of the clubs. Dan Whittaker picked up the Clubman of the Year Award while Alex Mitchell was presented with the Most Improved Player of 2010. Meanwhile, Tom Morton, Alex Mitchell, Todd Humphries and Tomas Neary revecieved the Player of the Season trophy from each of their respective teams.

Congratulations to all those who were voted into the various roles on the exec for the 10/11 season. The executive committee for the forthcoming year is as follows -

President – Jack Kelly

Secretary – Rob Ellis

Treasurer – Peter Gow

1st X1 and Club Captain – Graham Cox

2nd X1 Captain – Jonathan Absolon

3rd X1 Captain – Todd Humphries

4th X1 Captain – Tomas Neary

Social Secs – Aiman Shanks & Lewis Tutssel

Communications & Publicity Officer – Tom Lambert

Charities & Communities Officer – Vitaly Varvinskiy

Tour Sec – Mark Bridger

Fixtures Sec – Tom Marriage

Umpires Sec – Jack Ticehurst

Eleven members from the University of Warwick’s Men and Ladies Hockey clubs are preparing to brave the elements and tackle the rolling hills in an attempt to run the Stafford Half Marathon on March 21st. Dressed head to toe in fancy dress, the runners will be raising money for Kenilworth Helping Hands and The Royal Marsden Cancer Campaign. Despite some members of the team losing their bearings during the training runs, the runners appear to be confident of pulling off the feat. If you would like to donate to the team you can do so online by going to – www.justgiving.com/warwick-uni-hockey. The more money raise, the more ridicolous the fancy dress!

A fundraising video has been made, profiling some of the finely tuned runners set to feature in the race. Click on the following link if you would like to watch - Fundraising Appeal

Warwick University 2nd XI are preparing for what promises to be an enthralling cup tie this Wednesday as they entertain long time rivals Coventry University at Westwood in the quarter final of the Midlands Knockout Cup. After encouraging performances in both the MRHA and BUCS league since returning from the Christmas break, Tom Lambert’s side will be confident of claiming Coventry’s scalp. Simon Hughes, the ever dependable centre back is doubtful for the fixture, however the side is otherwise injury free.

Lambert told UWMHC’s reporter Will Jones that he was confident ahead of the big match. “The boys have applied themselves admirably this term both in training and matches. If we can reproduce this form, I’m sure we can push Coventry right to the final whistle.” He went on to compliment his rivals performance the last time they met in the league. “They have a few extremely talented players who turn the screws for them. They are very dangerous if they settle into the match – it will be therefore be our task to keep these individuals under wraps and ensure they don’t see much of the ball.”

Captain Tom Lambert will be looking to lead from the front

The winners of the tie will go on to play either Oxford University 2s or De Montfort 1s in the semi finals of the Midlands Cup. The push back on Wednesday is scheduled for 2pm at Westwood, all support is greatly welcomed.

 Both Warwick University 1s and 2s returned home victorious after completing tricky away wins at the hands of Loughborough 3s and Nottingham 4s respectively.

Tom Morton continued to stake his claim for the golden stick award with a fine hatrick which was supported by Jonny Bond’s double and a Mark Bridger effort. Robert Logan, playing his last BUCS away game, was awarded with the MOM award for an incredibly solid performance at the heart of defence. A fine 6-0 victory ensured that Warwick will finish ahead of their opposition in the league.

Elsewhere, Warwick Uni 2s, playing in the Midlands Cup, set up a mouth watering quarter final tie against Coventry 1s, after overcoming an efficient Nottingham 4s side. Harry Wilson grabbed both the goals in what proved to be a more difficult tie than expected. Sahir Shamshad made a string of excellent saves, keeping another clean sheet in the process while Gary Lam’s tireless work upfront saw him voted as the 2s MOM.

On Monday (24th January), we will be having our annual club photo. Be there!

We are starting at 3:15pm in Cryfield Pavilion (by the football pitches past Cryfield halls) so please get there about 10mins before. We’ll start with a whole club photo with our social shirts and ties (if you don’t have them just come along, we’ll have some spare) with smartish trousers. After that we’ll have team pictures so bring all your home hockey kit (Blue shirt, white shorts, blue socks).

Thanks very much and see you tomorrow, Senna.

P.S. Well done to all teams for the results yesterday and massive massive apologies to the 4s about this morning!!!