News & EventsLatest NewsCalendar
Ladies 1s Season Review

Ladies 1s Season Review

Graham Hodges29 Mar 2015 - 18:00
Share via
FacebookTwitter
https://www.pitchero.com/clubs

Review courtesy of Steph Allen

‘TEARS TANTRUMS AND TIARAS’ – My Season as Ladies 1’s Captain

For the last three seasons, with Rachel by my side, I have captained the Ladies 1’s with immense joy and happiness (with the added spice of ‘stress’ just to keep it all real!), and prior to being the Captain I was Rachel’s Vice Captain for a season. So for the last four seasons we have been a duo of ‘authority and organisation’, ‘good cop bad cop’, ‘beauty and the beast’.....you can decide which is which, but I’d credit Rachel with the ‘nicer’ side of the partnership. We have always had a vision of where we wanted to take the team and how this would benefit the growth of the ladies section as a whole, however Rachel’s vision also involved dresses for the squad but we never quite managed that one!....we wanted to take the team into the East Hockey leagues, and after three seasons we achieved that. So 2014/15 season was the first time in almost 20 years that the Ladies 1’s had played at this level and it was well deserved, having won both the Essex Prem. league and the Redbridge Summer League we were all ready and eager to go, the squad were excited and had played together for a number of seasons now, and the aim was to remain in the league and end the season around the mid table mark.

To say that East league has been a bit of a shock to the system, in my eyes, has been a slight understatement. It has involved a whole new approach to our game and a lot of adjustment within the squad with our ‘style’ of play and our attitude towards the game. It has actually made me appreciate why one of our local rival teams (a team that shall remain nameless but that rhyme with Wavering) play with aggression and attitude, because that is exactly what is required in East Hockey...in order to survive you need aggression and attitude; but you also need the added ingredients of composure, throw in the skill and that’s what makes a successful team at this level of hockey. My ladies have an abundance of skill, and there are times when we have lost our composure. We have lacked some aggression and on occasion showed plenty of attitude, but mainly at Umpires (we now have a standard joke in defence from Lisa shouting ‘what was that for?’ every time a penalty corner is awarded against us!), however, we have managed to stay in this league and achieve all that we set out for because we have had some fantastic games where the combination of all the parts have worked and we have walked away with three points after the game. I shall simply mention ‘Wapping’ at this point and let all those that played just wonder away with your memories on these two games that we won against them.

We have also had to learn what it feels like to lose. For the previous three seasons we enjoyed weeks of success and winning games and scoring an abundance of goals. If we lost a game one week you could almost guarantee that the next week we would win, because we were hungry for the points. This season the confidence has been knocked a little and learning how to lose has been a lesson we have all had to learn and a reminder to us all that we are a team that wins and losses together in all instances. Plenty of tears on my part throughout the season from pure frustration of carrying an injury, plenty of tantrums on the pitch and sometimes off the pitch where the game hasn’t gone our way by a number of team members, but also plenty of tiara moments when the goals go in or we win a game against the odds.
There have been some great moments this season by the squad, Lisa has made some amazing saves all season, whilst playing Holcome 2’s away, despite losing 7-1 Lisa must have saved at least 20 shots throughout the game with the majority of them in the first half. One of their players asking is she was on drugs because her reactions to attempts on goal were on top form. Jollins has provided us with many great moments, not necessarily for her hockey skills (no offence) but for bringing such magical moments as getting tangled in the net during a game when retrieving a ball, for verbally abusing a paramedic because he wouldn’t let her have a cigarette whilst waiting for the ambulance after a hard knock to the head/neck area, for hiding Luke Paddon’s chocolate (he still talks about it now) and eventually handing it back, for breaking early in the D and receiving a final warning...who knew Jollins could run that fast, and for hitting the ball at the umpire...oh there are so many its a wonder why Jollins doesn’t have to wear the bib at the dinner dance! Erika brought the magic to a whole new level at Wapping with ‘Bib-Gate’ , having the game stopped because the umpire didn’t like the colour of her bib, and during training sessions on a Wednesday night trying to kill Lisa in goal by firing the ball at Lisa’s head!. Let’s not even discuss her claim for being an ace pool player and then losing in the bar.

Rachel has learnt that getting lower to the floor is the key to tackling in the D, yet this has come with a ‘grunt’ (one of the ‘Williams Sisters’ was a comment made on a DOD vote) rather than a ‘squeal’ so we’ve had to adjust to that noise instead, and Pearcy covers more pitch than everyone simply because she goes backwards before going forwards...no wonder you have amazing levels of fitness, you run twice as far as the rest of us!. Bron has found herself in the second half of the season playing sweeper instead of centre forward, this has been incredibly positive and calming on the defence of the team but means I now have to run further as I’m being bossed on the pitch!! Tash had a memory loss moment for forgetting to take her stick home after the game so was heavily fined by the team, If you’re ever running late to a game then jump in Tash’s car because she drives like a Formula 1 driver which probably explains why she is always late for a meet because she makes up the time on the motorway! Tash also managed to spill coffee down herself and almost caused a threat to any potential plans for a family of the future (ouch!) – written on a DOD vote as ‘burning her noo noo with coffee’. The twins continued to cause confusion to the opposition this season and for a brief moment the apologies stopped after threats of the fines tin. We will miss Colette next season as she heads off to university, her grace, politeness and calm within the team is a lovely quality to behold and it has been a pleasure playing hockey with you for the last four seasons. We have spies in the Norfolk camp so we’ll be keeping an eye on your hockey career from afar. Zoe threatens to stay with us...it will be an absolute delight if she stays for a few more seasons and look out everyone when she gets angry on the pitch because that’s when her determined head comes out and she is a driving force.

Tanya has continued to bring the ‘fire in the belly’ and found a new love of the reverse stick goal, total show off!, and also realising that there is no centre spot on the pitch...what a revelation and caused much confusion (although I will confess that in one game I didn’t know where the P spot was because Colette was standing on it!) and for the second season running Tanya is the leading goal scorer for the Ladies 1’s....no doubt Tanya will have talked you through one of her goals at some stage throughout the season. For scoring four goals in the game vs Gore Court, Tanya was awarded DoD, that’s how much we love and respect her goal scoring ability. And not forgetting Jen, our marathon running inner/forward who loves a bit of ‘after match’ banter and also likes to throw in a decent stick tackle and be rewarded with a green card. We’ve had ‘guest’ appearances from Anna, Amber, Caroline and Marisa where work and university have dominated their lives this season, Marisa managed to knock over an opposition player who would have been at least three times as heavy as herself and played most of the game ‘resting’ her hand on the oppo players back, obviously showing her caring side more openly than necessary.

This year Jess and Tucker have had their seasons cut short and have been missed on the pitch, they both bring different skills to the team and I look forward to next season to having them both back, my ‘roving defender ‘and my ‘high right back’ supporting me in defence, and no Rachel, that does not mean you’ll be put on the forward line either. However I would never be forgiven if I didn’t mention that when we lost heavily to Sevenoaks away, whilst Tucker was on the pitch no goals were scored against us and so she singlehandedly maintained a clean sheet. For weeks Tucker was happy to be the sub and bench each game, coming up with 101 excuses as to why, and I was thinking ‘blimey Tucker is being really good not making a fuss’ but little did I realise that in fact Baby Paddon number three was on its way and eventually the bump started to show and pitch time was a no go. Lisa couldn’t cope with the pressure of having a pregnant player in our team on the pitch and was ready to attack any opposition that came near Tucker...ok time to stop playing. We’ve also had a newbie joining us for a few games in the second half of the season, Sam Lister has played for us when her England Rugby duties haven’t kept her busy all weekend. It’s been lovely having you back and hopefully we’ll keep you for a little while longer.

And finally there is me, the oldest member of the team and slowly falling apart whilst I watch players younger than my daughter whiz past me (let’s not mention Sevenoaks, Horsham or Burnt Ash!). I’ve had a few moments myself, a few ninja stick moments when the knee allows me to bend low enough, saving a lobbed ball on goal behind Lisa (no Jen it wasn’t going over already), saving three on the line in one game from direct hit short corners, telling everyone not to argue with the umpires yet arguing with the umpires, having 20 seconds to tell the team not to stick tackle...’ok guys, stop stick tackling’ (what else do you say?). Apparently I had a teenage strop and leakage from the eye which awarded me with a DOD vote, and I’ve washed the ‘vets’ shirts for the Ladies 1’s and ironed them more times that I really care to, always ensuring a colour catcher goes in with them and they don’t come out pink!. But despite the new pre-match preparation of anti-inflammatory drugs and lucazade I am not ready to call it a day and I look forward to next season of building on all that we have achieved to enable us to finish in the top half of the league.

So now comes the part where I reveal the awards from the Ladies 1’s and to be honest I could award everyone with a trophy for their weekly commitment, for the tantrums and tears that come with the passion of the game and for the tiara moments for the entire 22 Saturdays but, alas I am restricted to a few awards.

For the Ladies Player of the season, this award goes to a player who has been with the squad for the past five seasons and has not missed one game, she had also been present at the majority of training sessions (I suspect more than any other player), she has been awarded MOM by the team for more games than anyone else this season and has had a major impact on more than one occasion on the results of a game. Very few know that this player changed her job to enable her to commit to playing every Saturday for Redbridge and she joined the squad after a phone-call made during a Wednesday training session and was on the pitch ready to play on the Saturday afterwards. She has also developed a questioning voice and a love of elderly, slightly blind umpires that like to fall over backwards in front of her.......the Ladies 1’s Player of the Season is Lisa Lory.

Our ‘Dick of the Season’ award goes to our most vocal player on the pitch; she has the most precious knees in the squad and often dons her leggings to protect her cuts and bruises. In fact they are so big these cuts and bruises that when asked to reveal them they turned out to be smaller than the size of a 5p piece. This player has the most striking pre and post match outfits, rocking the blue-sock-beige- ballet-shoe combo, she brings certain jazz moves into our warm-up routine and drives at a snail’s pace because she loves her car so much and wants to spend the maximum amount of time in it as possible, plus she can’t park her car for toffee!. This player has been voted DOD the most times by the squad this season and so our award goes to Rachel Skinner. I hope you enjoy her new outfit as much as we have making it all season.

Last but not least I would like to announce my Captains Choice award. This award is chosen solely by me and is not influenced by any form of chocolate or alcoholic bribery and I’m disappointed that no one even tried to bribe me! Sometimes when you encounter a low point one person will step up way above everyone else and bring a degree of calm and composure to the table, (as long as there are chips involved!) When the team hit rock bottom just before the halfway point in the season this player stepped up and gave an immense amount of support to myself and every player in the team. She has attended virtually all the games this season despite not playing in most of them, she has provided the fun-bus when we have travelled into the depths of Kent and detoured for pit stops both heading out of the county and back in again. She has taken time to rearrange and tidy up dug outs whilst the rest of us concentrated on the game, she has stepped into the role of manager and run the subs from the side-line and often been the voice of reason when there is a ‘strop alert’. I would like to give my Captains Choice Award to Helen Tucker Paddon and I thank you for all that you have given the squad this season whilst we have watched that bump grow and grow. Once ‘Baby Paddon Three’ is out we will hold a cider fest and celebrate with you.

So here is where I end my report. I know I say it every season, but it has genuinely been a pleasure and a privilege being the Ladies 1’s Captain and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. I know there are times that I am an absolute nightmare for some players but rest assured, my intentions are never for my own gain, they are always for the good of the squad and the dynamics of the team. You don’t always have to be the best player to make the ladies 1’s when I look to select players, but you do have to bring something positive to the team and fit with the ethos of the squad. We are a competitive bunch full of passion to win and we take it hard when we lose but we will win and lose together and have a beer in the bar afterwards whilst bantering amongst ourselves. Next season you will see the Ladies 1’s move higher up the table in East Hockey and establish their place firmly in the league, there will be more tantrums, tears and tiara moments without a doubt...but that’s the sheer joy of ladies hockey, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Thank you ladies for a the past season, lets enjoy summer league and after the summer break come back with some fighting spirit again and continue to cause upset for those top teams in the league.

Further reading