Author Archives: whc-user

Hockey players and golfers join forces for Andie’s Charity Day

Hockey players and golfing hockey players joined forces last Saturday for Andie’s Charity Golf day to raise money for St.Barnabas Hospice in Worthing. As ever it was a fantastic event combining golf, hockey, BBQ, curry and even a steel band !

44 golfers dressed to impress and spent 5 hours battling it out on Rustington Golf Course for this year’s title. In a close fought contest, congratulations to ‘Teds’ team for finishing as the overall winners.

Meanwhile back at the hockey club, there was a mixed hockey festival where players from across all teams in the club combined for a fun, social game, played in warm conditions with a great club spirit.

In the evening, everyone came together for an evening of music from The Worthing Steel Band as well as our biggest ever raffle, BBQ and curry served up by our very own club president !

Thank you to everyone involved in making this day happen – it was fantastic, memorable and raised money for a really wonderful charity – see you all again next year.

End of season league roundup 2024/25. Mens 2s win league and promotion !

Another fantastic season has flown by – with all of Mens, Womens, Mixed, Masters and Junior teams playing out a packed fixture list throughout the season. The highlight being the Mens 2s winning Martlets Division 2 by 10 clear points and gaining promotion back into Division 1.

Mens 1s had a strong season, in contention for the South East – West Division league title until the last few games where a tough run of fixtures ended with a great 4th place finish, and a great platform for next season. Womens 1s consolidated their position in Martlets Division 1 after promotion a couple of seasons ago with good season in a strong league, again, looking good as a platform for next season.

Having Mens 2s, 3s and 4s in the same Martlets Division 2 was always going to make for some interesting matches. In the end, the table played out along with the form guide, with Mens 2s winning the league, with just 1 defeat, Mens 3s in mid table and Mens 4s securing their place in the league for next season above the drop zone, with a couple of great wins at the end of the season.

Womens 2s had another good season in Martlets Division 3 with strong, consistent results throughout the season keeping the team safely in mid table in this competitive league. Mens 5s kept everyone on their toes, retaining their position in Mens Martlets Division 3 on goal difference by 1 goal. However, with a strong looking squad, the platform is set for next season. The Mens 6s had a fine season in mid table of Division 4, narrowly missing out on a top half finish and a massive development in the team compared to last season.

On the Mixed side, the team had a cup run including winning a penalty shoot-out, before finally losing in the Plate competition. The Mens O40s team also enjoyed a Plate cup run which ended at the quarter final stage.

The juniors had another good season with the Wolves U16 boys finishing 3rd in the Sussex Development League. The squad grew during the season with the inclusion of the Wildcats girls and hopefully Wildcats will have a team next season too.

The U16 and U14 South East Sunday league collaboration continued with Horsham this season, with the boys U16s finishing 2nd in their league by 1 point – a great achievement against some large Surrey clubs.

The U10/U12s played interclub festivals, In2 tournament and Ron Easton tournament throughout the season, with each match building and progressing from the previous – great work all.

Overall a great season – thanks to all involved and here’s to 2025/26 !!

2024/25 half time report. Mens 1s and 2s top their leagues at christmas !

Hard to believe, but its half time in the 2024/25 season already. As we head into the festive break, what a season its been Worthing Hockey Club already.

The Mens 1s sit top of the South East Mens Division 1 West by a single point from Reigate Priory in a tough battle at the top of the table. The Womens 1s are just a point away from the top half of the Division 1 Martlets league recording 4 wins and 4 losses, with the Womens 2s having a great first half of the season currently in 4th place behind East Grinstead who are the runaway leaders in Division 3 Martlets.

In Mens Division 2 Martlets which features 3 Worthing teams, Mens 2 are also top of their league, in a close battle, leading Crowborough by a single point. Mens 3s and 4s have both had a healthy start in this league, ending 2024 6th and 8th respectively.

In the Division 3 Martlets league Mens 5s have had a tougher start to the season, but with promising recent performances are looking to climb the table as we head into January. The Mens 6s have had a great run of recent results and are looking to consolidate a top half position in Division 4.

During the season it is fantastic to see how each team has grown and how the club’s policy of promoting junior players has young players in every team across the club.

On the junior side itsself, Wolves (U16s) have had a strong start to the season with 5 wins from 9 games, and sit in the top part of their league, a great achievement whilst introducing 9 new players to the team during the first part of the season. Both U14 and U16 boys teams have been in action in the South East Tier 3 Sunday league in partnership with Horsham – both teams having an unbeaten first part of the season.

Our youngest players have been in match action too – with both Boys & Girls U12s and U10s giving strong performances at regional festivals held across Sussex during the first few months of the season.

Overall a great first half and we look forward to resuming after the christmas break. Merry Christmas !

Meet our President, Chair, Mens and Womens 1s captains

A strong club is built on experience and firm foundations. Meet our President Clive Neil-Smith, Chair Anthony Fuest ‘Ants’, Mens 1s Captain Luc Hinton and Womens 1s Captain Ellie Chambers. All have long connections with the club. Luc and Ellie have even agreed to take part in our Comets juniors Q&A to learn more about what inspired them to take up hockey and progress from juniors to the 1st XI.

Captain Allan heads to the Masters

Worthing Hockey Club stalwart, Andy Allan, heads down to Auckland, New Zealand, towards the end of October to skipper the O60’s England B side.

It’s a long road from his days as a stylish 70’s prep school lad, where the only masters he would have been familiar with were those teaching at school! It was at Broadwater Manor school, across the road from WHC’s old home, where Andy first picked up a hockey stick.

Having joined the club as a young man, he forged his reputation as a club man and all round nice guy with many years service across his peak years in Worthing’s 4th team. In 1995 this side was rebranded the Hooch XI after the release of the popular alcoholic lemonade drink. It witnessed many promising youngsters passing through, with Andy prominent in passing on his journeyman wisdom before waving them goodbye to higher teams.

It wasn’t until his 40’s that he started taking his hockey seriously and eventually made his 1st XI debut. He still holds the record for oldest first team player to score a hatrick.

He progressed from here into age group international hockey, initially via Scottish heritage, then onto a gold medal at the Cape Town, South Africa Masters in 2022.

With his wife Lisa playing on the club tennis circuit with Storrington and two very talented daughters, Holly & Nicole, Andy has become very driven in his later years, not wanting to be the worst in his family. He can be found regularly park running, taking on huge mountains in the Alpine air or completing triathlons in competitive times.

Now a VP of Worthing Hockey Club, everyone connected with this great institution wishes him well on his latest journey. His family are super proud to see him head off to New Zealand as captain of his country.

Andy has family members out in New Zealand, including a twin sister who was born the day before him. Those of us that have played with Andy for many years will recognise this trait of arriving later than everyone else, though on that occasion absolutely no way was he at the Washington roundabout !

Good luck Andy, we will all be watching. x

Introducing our coaching team

We are a very fortunate club to have a strong coaching team across our Men’s, Women’s and Junior sections. Whether it is a coaching session on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Sunday or coaching at Saturday 1st team and junior matches, you will find our dedicated team bringing as much skills training, passion and tactical knowledge as possible to our WHC teams.

Fantastic turnout for Andie’s Golf Day raises £2750

In the words of our Chair : “On behalf of the club, I would like to thank everyone involved in Andie’s Golf Day. I truly cannot remember a better day. The organisers and their elves put on a day that shows the club as a hockey family. Thank you for the immense amount of work to create a fantastic atmosphere on the day.”

The day was blessed with beautiful weather (and the occasional decent golf shot !) Congratulations to The Drawshanks for retaining their crown by a single putt from The Sour Cherry and Apple Squashies (named after their team kit). In total there were 11 teams which was brilliant to see.

The event raised £2750 with all proceeds going to St.Barnabas Hospice in Worthing, as well as the golf there were raffle prizes, longest drive, nearest the pin, fines for missed greens, donations, evening curry and the traditional 11th hole fund raising drinks ! A great way to raise money for a great charity. See you next year !

Annual Dinner / Dance and Awards Night 2024

Fantastic 2023/2024 end of season celebrations at The Ardington Hotel, Worthing, followed by partying at The Vudu lounge. The perfect venue, fabulous food and what a wonderful time each and everyone had. Everyone made a massive effort and dressed up for the occasion.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to a great season and congratulations to our players of the season for each team.

M1 Josh Appleton M2 Liam Struthers M3 Reece Matthews M4 Marc Taylor M5 Dave Scott

M6 Nathan Keeley Wolves Ben Holliday W1 Ellie Chambers W2 Emily Keogh

End of season wrap up 2023/24

Wow, what a season its been. Fielding 17 different teams from Under 10s to Over 50s, it has been a true ‘club’ season. Our Mens and Ladies 1^st teams both finished mid table in their respective leagues, consolidating their positions ready for more high standard hockey next season.

Across both Mens and Ladies teams we have had young players moving up through the club and performing brilliantly which is great as they are the future of the club. Strong finishes to the season moved Ladies 2s and Mens 5s up the leagues to safe league positions.

On the junior side, the Wolves Boys development team had another strong season finishing in 2^nd place with the Boys U14s and U16s finishing in creditable mid table positions in their first visit to the South East Sunday leagues.

The U10 and U12 Boys and Girls had some great matches with the U12B achieving 2^nd in the In2 Hockey Vase and 3^rd in the Ron Easton tournament.

The Mixed team enjoyed a cup run whilst the Mens O50s went a step further before being edged out in the England Hockey Championship Semi Final.

Adding in a significant number of our juniors making the Sussex Academy and Sussex Championship squads, plus multiple social club matches and off the field social events – it has been a fantastic season – thank you to everyone at WHC !

Mens 1^st – South East Division 1 West : Position 6^th

Mens 2^nd – South East Division 1 Martlets : Position 12^th

Mens 3^rd – South East Division 2 Martlets : Position 6^th

Mens 4^th – South East Division 3 Martlets : Position 3^rd

Mens 5^th – South East Division 3 Martlets : Position 9^th

Mens 6^th – South East Division 4 Martlets : Position 9^th

Ladies 1^st – South East Division 1 Martlets : Position 8^th

Ladies 2^nd – South East Division 3 : Martlets : Position 7^th

Wolves – Sussex Boys Development League : Position 2^nd

Boys U14 – South East Tier 3 Pool B : Position 5^th

Boys U16 – South East Tier 3 : Position 7^th

Mixed – England Hockey Mixed Tier 2 Championships : Round 3

Mens O50s – England Hockey O50s Tier 2 Championships : Semi Final

Boys U10s : Interclub tournaments

Girls U10s : Interclub tournaments, In2 Vase Quarter Final

Boys U12s : Interclub tournaments, In2 Vase Runners Up, Ron Easton 3^rd place

Girls U12s : Interclub tournaments, In2 Vase 3^rd place

Meet our Sunday league teams and fantastic umpires

Every weekend, Saturday and Sunday we are so lucky to have a team of fantastic umpires – thank you so much to you all – the games literally would not happen without you. Thank you. In addition to our Saturday league teams, we also have Sunday Mixed, O50s and Junior leagues / tournaments, covering Boys and Girls U10/U12, Boys U14 and Boys U16. The mixed and O50s play in the England Hockey Championships, the U10/U12s in the Sussex tournaments and U14s / U16s in the South East Sunday Tier leagues. It is great to see so many out enjoying their hockey across the weekends.

Meet our Saturday league teams

Every Saturday through the season WHC has fielded 6 x Mens, 2 x Ladies and 1 x Junior Development teams. Come rain or shine, this fantastic group of players represent the club across Sussex and wider the South East region. Mens 1s compete in South East Division 1 West, the Mens and Ladies teams across the South East Markets leagues and the Sussex Junior Development leagues. Thank you and so great to see so many enjoying their hockey every week.