PUSH Hockey Magazine

3 weeks ago | thehockeypaper.co.uk | Rod Gilmour

With Beeston breathing down their necks all season and the club well aware of the hundreds of alumni refreshing GMS for final day results, there was a considerable amount of pressure on Durham University women as they bid for Women’s Premier Division status for the first time at the weekend. It was edgy stuff as Durham travelled to Gloucester City and needing to avoid defeat to ensure promotion. They won 4-3, captain Scarlett Spavin scoring in the last minute to seal three points.

1 month ago | thehockeypaper.co.uk | Rod Gilmour

Barnes women recorded a major milestone as they confirmed their passage to the England Hockey Premier Division for the first time in the club’s history. By beating Surbiton 2s in Division One South, Barnes will now join perennial champs Surbiton 1s in the top flight courtesy of a super come-from-behind 5-2 win. History was ushered in when the team was addressed in the post-game huddle by former international Katie Dodd who had played for Ealing when they were a top tier side in the late 70s.

1 month ago | thehockeypaper.co.uk | Rod Gilmour

England Hockey says its vision for free-to-air hockey left the national governing body to take the decision to pay for Pro League production costs. As it aims to recoup the outlay (which also include England’s away games in the global league), the national governing body envisages a £1 yearly cost to its 146,000 club players as part of its new membership proposal. Continue reading...

1 month ago | thehockeypaper.co.uk | Rod Gilmour

England Hockey (EH) is hoping to push through “significant changes” to its player membership model when it goes to a vote at Tuesday’s AGM. The national governing body says that change is necessary due to “inflation and unavoidable costs” which need to be passed on to the hockey community. Club player membership numbers around 146,000 and EH says it needs to maintain the long-term sustainability of the sport, which has also forced England Hockey into redundancies at Bisham Abbey.

1 month ago | thehockeypaper.co.uk | Rod Gilmour

“I don’t want to be the older guy in the corner being in the way,” says Josh Smith, Richmond’s one-club player who finally tasted Premier Division hockey this season after 20 remarkable years of trying. It was when Richmond and Hounslow merged in 2004 — 30 years after Richmond first entered the London League in 1974 — that Smith made his debut. Two decades and over 300 matches on, the 40-year-old ran on against Surbiton for their first home game in September.