Winter is coming and Warren’s here.
Happy Friday all! Last week saw another excellent weekend of hockey as the W1 prevailed in their first ever East London National League derby, and a number of teams were rewarded for a season of solid effort as they climbed towards the top of their respective league tables. A huge shout out to everyone playing and supporting at Lee Valley last Saturday (including all the Royals!), the atmosphere was electric and the hockey incredible. A fantastic result to kick off new W1’s captain, Izzy’s, reign! Well done all.
Christmas social
The Christmas social is fast approaching on December 7th, while the exact details are to be imminently provided, it’s never too soon to start planning your team’s fancy dress.
Warren D’Souza, VCP
We are delighted that Warren D’Souza has offered to step in and continue Lizzie and Jenna’s excellent work on the club performance front.
Warren has played in the National League for over twenty seasons, winning four English Premier League titles and a Euro Hockey League bronze medal with former club Reading. He has also appeared for England at every age group.
Coaching-wise, Warren has over a decade of experience coaching at various levels, including three teams in the National League. He's very familiar with the development of Wapping over the years having coached M1 over two stints: from 2011-2013 and from 2018-2022. Welcome (back)!
It’s getting chilly
The astute among you have probably realised that it’s getting chillier. With this comes the possibility of matches being cancelled as pitches are frozen over. Have no doubt that the fixture secs are on it, so please don’t bombard them with messages from midweek asking if your game will be on over the weekend. Fixtures sec will let captains know who will inform teams.
Training:
Final decision will be made 1 hour before training, however if cancelled earlier in the day Eleanor will inform captains as soon as she’s informed.
Matches:
Home
LV - inspection of the pitches at the following times: 08:30, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00 and if necessary 17:00 once a decision has been made Eleanor will inform captains.
JO - process to be confirmed with centre but aim to follow same procedures.
Away
As soon as Eleanor or captains know we will inform the teams.
Safety
We’ve sadly seen a few injuries for both our own players and opposition in recent weeks. Please continue to do what you can to stay as safe as possible, including wearing mouthguards and short-corner protection.
All teams should carry a complete first aid kit (including ice packs) and have trained first aiders who can help should an injury occur. It is the responsibility of teams to issue first aid, not venue staff.
In the event of an incident, please do tell the club - Injury reporting is a requirement of England Hockey, is needed for our own risk management, and because we purchase insurance which can claim for losses or expenses associated with injury. More details can be found here.
If your teams needs any first aid or short corner kit please reach out to Kit Sec, Kat (wappingkit@gmail.com).
If you need any help with this, please contact the Club Secretary, Irini.
Introducing the Printers
This Sunday our performance mixed team, The Printers, have their first EH tournament game against West Hampstead at Lee Valley (pb @ 11:30).
The Printers team is predominantly aimed at those playing in the first to fourth teams, the group chat can be found in the Wapping community if you’d like to join them.
Free swimming for women and over 55s living in tower hamlets
If all the hockey wasn’t keeping you fit enough, BeWell (who run JO) are now offering free swimming for women and over 55s resident in Tower Hamlets. More info here: https://be-well.org.uk/what-we-offer/swimming/free-swimming/
Upcoming events at The Northcote
Our new hangout, The Northcote, has a great set of events between now and Christmas, ranging from folk to house music - feel free to gather your teams and stick around after teas.
Last week’s results
This week’s fixtures
Dates for your diary
Dec 7th - Christmas Social (and last pre-xmas game providing no rearranged fixtures)
Jan 18th - Games restart
Member discounts:
Check out our Members' area (Password: whc1989) which has all of our available offers, including:
5% discount and 5% club kick back at the Moretown Belle
20% off NuSmile dentists
A free Psycle session
Grubby: 50% off + free delivery on 1st box, plus 30% off for the rest of the month
10% off all beers at Tap East
Balling: All members = 15% off, W1 and M1 = 25% off. We also get 25% off OTE sports (sports nutrition bars, etc)
