The Ladies' Section
The 2022/23 season saw the Ladies’ section move back into London after a season in the South. It was a chance for all the teams to face some new oppositions and get back with some old friends.
I think this will be the first season where both club captains have played less than 2 games all year!
Fortunately for us, it meant we saw some brilliant hockey every Saturday! Unfortunately, we ended up with the 1s and 2s in relegation but the team spirit and togetherness really shone through! The 3s had a fabulous time getting some great wins and bringing so many new players through.
This year we have said a fond farewell to Jackie Parsons who has coached us for the last four seasons. We wish you all the luck in the world in your next adventure!
But as we look into the next season, we have so much to build on from the end of the season! Onwards and upwards!
As we approach the new season, we are delighted to share an exciting coaching announcement! Matias Eguren has joined as Head Coach of AHC Ladies, with Pablo Laschiaza and Martin Isaguirre joining the coaching team from Argentina. All three coaches have vast experience of coaching both men's and ladies’ hockey teams and are looking forward to taking AHC Ladies on our next steps. Coaching will be supplemented with other people throughout the season. See the AHC website for details of the new coaching structure.
See you all at Club Day on 2 September! If you want to play in the mixed tournament, please look out for the Pitchero invites and set your availability.
Emma (Hynes) and Kirsty
Ladies’ Club Captains
The Men's Section
Dear all,
I hope this message finds you all well, rested and excited about the new hockey season.
With preseason training upon us I’m confident that we can build as a club on some excellent performances from the men’s teams last season and a strong summer league campaign to get our league season off to a bang.
This time last season we were a bit uncertain on how we would get on. The loss of a few key 1s players left us looking a little light for the season ahead … step forward Sam Druce, our brilliant 1st XI coach, who put a plan in place to create a performance squad consisting of our 1s/2s players and promising youngsters.
He was able to upskill just about everyone in that squad, particularly the youngsters, and integrate them into a style of play that they all understood and relished playing in. The results for the season considering the perceived strength of the squad were astonishing. In some games the 1s played, we had four or five Under 16s in the squad, picked on merit and competing against some very experienced opposition from the area’s super clubs. The 1s stayed in the division comfortably and with a season of experience in the league our youngsters can only go from strength to strength this coming season.
The second team had a superb season also finishing 4th in a tough league but also beating every team at least once. More youngsters were blooded here with the hope that they can be pushing for 1st team places this year.
The 3s, 4s and 5s also exceeded expectations and, again, we had another eight or so juniors playing men’s hockey for the first time coming through and proving their worth across all the teams. With our excellent colt set up and the standard of the coaching provided, the future looks bright for AHC.
The summer league was ferociously fought again with AHC entering two teams. One Ashford side were denied a berth in the final against Staines by the other AHC side, who went on to beat Staines in the final. The summer league was a great environment to introduce some new players/parents and give some of the ‘newly turned 13’ colts experience against adult opposition. Well done to all involved and thanks to Peter Cottrell and the team captains for taking the summer league and running with it so successfully.
Onto the new season, we are still looking for a fourth team captain, but that aside, plans are taking shape. We have Club Day to look forward to on Saturday 2 September – always a highly enjoyable day. If you would like to be involved in playing in the mixed tournament, please look out for the Pitchero invites and set your availability.
If you have friends who used to play hockey or other sports or just fancy some social exercise, or if you know any of your children’s friends who might fancy giving hockey a go, please speak to us or bring them along to training. The more members we can attract to the club the stronger we will become.
I look forward to seeing you all during preseason or over the course of the season and if you have any questions or problems please do not hesitate to bring them to my attention. That is what I’m here for.
Onward and upward AHC!
Andrew Barnes (Digger)
Men’s Club Captain
Men’s Club Captain
