I wish everyone at Slough Hockey Club and elsewhere a Happy Christmas and Prosperous New Year and think it is right at this time to reflect on a successful year both on and off the pitch.

The junior academy continues to thrive with some very successful tournament appearances. Thank you to all the youth coaches and helpers who volunteer and give up their time to help develop the juniors. We continue to bridge the gap from juniors to senior ranks in every team and youngsters can now clearly see their development path forward into representing the club in the seniors teams.

The seniors teams have done very well, with hard work from the captains and coaches: The Ladies 1st XI are clear at the top of the league and the Men’s 1st XI are working hard and continuing to improve. All the other sides are in good league positions with strong squads. This is a great achievement for our players but also for our captains, who have dealt well with a particularly difficult early season period getting 6 teams out every week with considerable player availability challenges and are now benefitting from strength in numbers.

I would like to thank all the umpires, coaches, committee members, captains, junior volunteers, team managers and parents, who have contributed and worked hard at the club. All the volunteers work for free and spend a considerable amount of time at the club and working away from the club carrying out club activities. It is great to see all the volunteers who are genuinely excited and work hard for all the club.

A massive thank you to all our generous sponsors for their support; main sponsor Bi-Fold Door Factory, Lalys and HSB.

Happy holidays, Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you all.

Best wishes and have a fantastic holiday break,

Paps
Chairman, Slough Hockey