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League Results Review 2022/23
What a season! We are so proud of our league teams across Mens, Ladies and Juniors – they have had a fantastic season.
Ladies Teams : Final league standings: In their first promoted season, Ladies 1s finished 9th in South East Women’s Division 1 Martlets, whilst the Ladies 2s won the South East Women’s Division 4 Martlets gaining promotion, with the Ladies 3s, just behind in 3rd place. The Llamas U16 team won the Sussex Development League with an undefeated season – congratulations to all.
Ladies 2s League Winners 2022/23 
Llamas JDL Winners Mens Teams : Final league standings : The Mens 1s finished 6th in the highly competitive South East Men’s Division 1 West, with the Mens 2s and 3s ending 9th and 8th respectively in the South East Men’s Division 1 Martlets. Mens 4s were 10th in Martlets Division 2, Mens 5s 5th in Division 3 and Mens M6 8th in Division 4. The Wolves U16 team finished 1st in the ‘original 12’ league, 4th in the subsequent ‘split top / bottom league’ and 2nd overall. Again congratulations to all.
Our U10 / U12 boys and girls had a great season with many playing their first matches. The boys U10s were Runners Up in the In2 Hockey Vase tournaments with the U12 Boys and Girls both 3rd at the Ron Easton West tournament – brilliant season !
Wolves 
Mens 1s 
Ladies 1s 
U10 Boys and Girls 
Ladies 2s 
Mens 2s -
Llamas win Junior Development League with unbeaten record
Llamas JDL Winners Our girls U16 development team – The Llamas has won the Sussex Junior Development league in style. The league season had 2 parts. The first part was the whole league with 12 teams, where Llamas recorded 9 wins and 2 draws – finishing top by a clear 8 points and the only unbeaten team in the league.
The league then split into Top 6 and Bottom 6 with 5 more games played between the teams. Llamas won all 5 matches with a perfect points finish of 15 to round of the season in style. Congratulations to the whole squad of players, coaches, parents, guardians and supporters – fantastic achievement by you all !
Llamas JDL Winners 
Llamas Unbeaten JDL 
Llamas Unbeaten JDL -
Busy January for WHC Juniors
January has been an incredibly busy month for the junior section with our U10s, U12s, Boys Development and Girls Development all in action. WHC proudly hosted an U10 Girls mini festival on a frosty 22nd January. After a delayed start to allow the pitch to thaw, our girls took on teams from Burgess Hill, Lewes and East Grinstead. It was a fantastic afternoon topped off with sausage and beans in the warm clubhouse. A week later, we repeated the format for the U12 Girls, hosting Burgess Hill, Horsham and Eastbourne – winning 3 out of the 4 matches which was a great achievement.
The U10 boys lost out to the frost, but will have their matches re-arranged. Meanwhile the U12 boys took 2 teams to Christs Hospital on 29th January to play in another mini festival including Horsham, Lewes, Eastbourne and Brighton. It was great to see so many players involved and putting their training skills into action on the matchday pitch.
The U16 Girls Development team continued their unbeaten record in the Sussex league with 2 wins and a draw whilst the U16 Boys Development sit within the top 3 in the Sussex league with 3 wins and 1 loss during the month of January – completing a busy few weeks for all of our juniors. Keep up the good work !
U12 Boys 
U12 Boys 
U12 Girls 
U10 Girls 
Wolves 
Llamas -
Happy New Year and welcome 2023 !
WHC members found the best way to celebrate the new year by having a fun day of mixed family hockey on New Years Day. After the cheese, wine and christmas chocolates, it was a joy to see so many smiling faces back on the hockey pitch. Looking forward to the matches in 2023 !
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Freezing weather brings early start to christmas holidays
The mid December cold snap has frozen up the Angmering pitch. In common with the hockey community across most of the country – this has forced an early start to the christmas holidays.
Have a fantastic christmas everyone and all best wishes for some great hockey in 2023 !
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Half Season Report – Mens, Ladies, Juniors
Ladies 2s 
Mens 3s The end of year is fast approaching as is the halfway point of our season.
We thought it would be a good idea to give you all a brief overview from the different sections of the club of their performances and achievements so far this season.
Ladies section
As the first half of the season draws to a close, we can take pride in a strong start across the Ladies section. The Ladies 3s currently sit in 3rd place in South East Women’s Division 4 Martlets, and the Ladies 2s are currently at the top of the same league, sitting four points clear of 2nd place. The Ladies 1s are currently in 8th place in South East Women’s Division 1 Martlets, after securing promotion last season.
The end of the summer saw the very quick and exciting creation of a 3rd team, and after initial uncertainty as to whether the timing was right, the team has gone from strength to strength under the guidance of Michelle Payne. As we approach the second half of the season, we will begin to ensure that the Ladies 3s are sustainable as a stand-alone squad, with the ultimate aim of having three competitive Ladies teams, each playing in their own league next season, to enable a pathway for players (both junior and adult) who want to develop their hockey further, as well as those who want to play more social hockey with their friends.
Men’s section
At half time in the season, it’s a mixed bag for Worthing’s six men’s teams. The 1’s are currently 6th in their league having recently risen up the table with 4 wins in a row. Their hard work implementing the sessions from their new coach is really starting to pay off. The two’s are not getting the points that their match play and training efforts deserve and will need some decent results in the second half of the season. Men’s 3’s are looking solid in mid table, but like the two’s the fours also need results soon to get them up the league. Men’s fives are mid table and have had some very good wins in recent weeks, and the sixes are also mid table which is fantastic considering how many personnel they have had so far, and how hard it has been to get squads together. It’s a real team effort for the 6’s and Mark Spiller, Ant Fuest and others have really done a good job.
The highlight of the season so far is the arrival of so many new players. It’s always sad to see another club wind up, but the six lads who have come across from Littlehampton Hockey Club have dived straight in and had an impact across the board. Welcome to you all.
Training is also well attended with Matt and Jez running energetic and engaging sessions, thanks to you both.
The goal for next year is to ensure that the teams that need points are supported and there are plans in place to achieve that. Thanks to all the captains, vice captains, pitch side managers, and coaches for all your help so far.
Worthing Wolves 
Worthing Llamas Junior Section Llamas & Girl’s Comets
Llamas have had an outstanding first half of the season and are currently top of the Sussex U16 development league by a clear 5 points (played 9, 8 wins, 1 draw). We also entered for the first time the EH U14 national cup beating East Grinstead in the first round.
With a squad of over 20 players ranging from 11 through to 15 years managed by Rex Fuller, Llamas have had a strong pool of players to choose from so far this season giving some of the younger players match time and experience. The introduction of our new younger players to our Tuesday evening Llamas training sessions is proving successful in providing a clear pathway for the comets to integrate and experience hockey at an older level making it a potential possibility run a second development league girls side next season.
Our U12 girls are a new team this season and are rapidly improving with the increased number of match fixtures we have arranged. Likewise, our U10 girls are a new side who had their first outing playing matches against other clubs only a week ago, these 2 young sides represent the future of our girl’s hockey.
Junior Section Wolves & Boy’s Comets
The boys have had a strong first half of the season. Worthing Wolves are joint 3rd in the Sussex U16 Development League having played 7 with 6 wins and only 1 defeat up now. With 2 games in hand over those above, it leaves all to play for after Christmas.
The Wolves have 4 new players this season who have moved up from the U12 Sunday Comets training – while 5 older Wolves are starting to play Men’s hockey with the 6th XI showing the pathway from U12 right through to adult hockey is working well. The Wolves squad is currently 17 players ranging from 11 through to 15 who train regularly with Dave Matthews (Twinkle) every Wednesday, rain or shine !
For the first time, we entered the U14 Boys National Cup. A narrow defeat in the first round and a tough plate draw, gave fantastic experience and a good measure of how far our new team has come in a short time. The Sunday U12 boys played matches at Crawley and at home to St. Francis & Brighton, whilst the U10s hosted EG and St. Francis – giving almost all of the Sunday Comets valuable match experience which is essential to put all the new skills into practice. More U12 / U10 matches to come in the new year.
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Early 22/23 Season League Round Up
We are now well into the new season, and it is extremely encouraging to see all our teams back playing regular hockey.
After 5 games, the Mens 1s are currently mid table in the South East Men’s Division 1 West, whilst following promotion last year, the Ladies 1s are also mid table in South East Women’s Division 1 Martlets. The Ladies 2s and the newly formed Ladies 3s are having fantastic starts to the season both with unbeaten starts in South East Women’s Division 4 Martlets division.
Mens 1s 
Ladies 1s The Mens 2s and Mens 3s are playing together in the Mens Division 1 Martlets with the 3s winning a close inter club league match earlier in October after their promotion in the previous season. The Mens 4s, 5s, 6s, are playing in the South East Men’s Divisions 2,3 and 4 Martlets respectively with the 5s currently mid table with 2 wins and the 6s recording their first victory of the season with a team featuring many of our junior players moving up into adult hockey which is fantastic for the future of the club.
https://www.worthinghockey.co.uk/teams/mens/
https://www.worthinghockey.co.uk/teams/ladies/
In the run up to christmas, there will be lots to look forward to with Mixed Games, Over 50s England Hockey Games and the continuation of the South East leagues – exciting times for all of our teams.
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Junior Section Half Term Report
As we get to half term, it is the perfect time to look back at the first few weeks of the season for the growing and thriving Junior Section. Starting with the Sussex Development League, both the Wolves and Llamas had strong starts to the season – with the Llamas unbeaten as we go into November and the Wolves winning 2 out of 3 of their league games so far – setting things up nicely for the run up to christmas.
Llamas U14 v East Grinstead 
Wolves U14 v Brighton This season for the first time, we have entered U14 Boys and Girls teams into the England Hockey National Championships. The 1st round was held at a sunny Angmering in early October with the Llamas U14 winning a thrilling penalty shoot out against East Grinstead with Harriet our GK being star of the show keeping a clean sheet in the eliminator, to send Worthing through 2-0. The boys game was just as exciting with Worthing just being edged out 1-3 in a tight competitive game against Brighton. Just before half time Alex scored to make it 1-2 – setting up an end to end 2nd half with Brighton holding out for the win in an excellent game.
U12 Girls at Burgess Hill 
U12 Boys at Crawley Our younger juniors have been training regularly on Sunday mornings, with 2 sessions from 11am to 12noon and 12 noon to 1pm being well attended by over 30 new and more experienced players alike.
The next step is playing in matches. Earlier in October, our U12 girls played in their first mini tournament of the season hosted by Burgess Hill at the Triangle, scoring a victory alongside some narrow loses. The U12 boys also played their first mini tournament against teams from East Grinstead, Lewes, Crawley and St.Francis. Again the games were close and competitive with a great time had by all.
As we head into November, we look forward to more from the Sussex Development league, England Hockey Cups as well as arranging more U12 and U10 matches to build and enhance our fantastic junior section. https://www.worthinghockey.co.uk/teams/juniors/
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Pictures from our 2022 Veteran Masters Tournament
Thank you so much to the 5 Ladies and 5 Mens teams that played out a fantastic tournament over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Here is a flavour of the weekend. The Mens tournament was won by Sussex All Stars recording an unbeaten record with Yorkies finishing 2nd after a 1-1 draw with Sussex and only slipping up against Millfield OBs. On the Ladies side, Land Girls won all 4 games including a 2-1 win over Girls on Fire who finished 2nd unbeaten across their other 3 games, just edging out the Maidens of Mayhem. The matches were closely fought in a competitive yet social atmosphere with points also shared across touring teams Handbags Rock, Gin & Chronics and of course the hosting Worthing Mens and Ladies teams. See you all next year !!
Mens Winners – Sussex All Stars 
Ladies Winners – Land Girls 
Girls on Fire v Land Girls 
Sussex All Stars v Handbags 
Land Girls v Gin & Chronics 
Millfield OB v Handbags 
Worthing Ladies 
Worthing / Girls on Fire 
Land Girls 
Handbags Rock 
Sussex All Stars 
Sussex All Stars v Worthing 
Handbags v Worthing 
Sussex All Stars v Millfield OB 
Our amazing umpires 
Worthing v Gin & Chronics 
Worthing v Land Girls -
2021/22 End of Season Review
Now that we have reached the end of the season – the first thing to say is that “at least we had a full season” this year. Here we reflect on the many positives from the hockey itself to the development of the club over the last 12 months.
We hope you enjoyed the hockey that you played this season and we look forward to seeing you all for the next one !
The Chairman’s Views
On the pitch
Over the year we have fielded 10 teams (6 mens, 2 ladies, 2 development) most weeks and there have only been odd occasions where getting a team out has been a major issue. Thanks go to Ian, Katie, Rex and Matt as well as the individual team captains for making this happen.
Well done to the Ladies 1s and Mens 4s for gaining promotion to the next league and also to the Wolves and Llamas who had strong seasons – showing that our junior hockey is going well and moving us to a preferred choice for younger players.
Ladies 1s 
Mens 4s Looking at our Comets Group this has developed well over the season with 40-50 juniors aged between 6 and 12 attending on Sunday mornings. Regular boys and girls tournaments for both U10s & U12s have proved a great success with Worthing competing strongly and achieving excellent results at these events.
Comets U12s 
Wolves v Llamas 2021 The other Men’s teams have competed strongly and performances especially in the second part of the season have reflected the development of the Club. The Ladies 2s finished near to the top of their league and the second half of the season was particularly successful.
There’s a lot of organisation that goes on behind the scenes so that we can play hockey at the weekends and it’s important to mention this. Matt Sephton has organised a team of umpires to make this happen and each week we need between 7-10 volunteers so that the games can take place. But we need more volunteers to grow this pool as well as a “well organised” volunteer to take over from Matt as co-ordinator.
WHC Coaches 
WHC Umpires Our coaching teams on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays have helped to develop our players as well as providing fun and engaging sessions. Most of these have been very well attended and you should make an effort to get to the training sessions if you can, they are key to continued team development. Next year we plan to expand the training further to include 2 hours on a Thursday, so there will be more options available – but we do need more coaches to come forward please and support the development of other players.
Our Marquee
One of the most visible developments over the last year has been building of our “semi permanent” marquee which has been available for Club Events and also as an additional social area after matches.
The marquee was originally built to host the 125 Year Anniversary Dinner last year and also act as a base for the Vets Tournament in August. The Anniversary Dinner showed the continued support of current and former members of the Club and was also the first time the Club was able to host an event of this size on its own premises. This has given us confidence to hold further events for Club members and also our annual Dinner Dance which we hosted on 21 May.
The Vets Tournament ran over 3 days (including Friday evening) and was well received by everyone who attended. It attracted over 100 hockey players from all parts of the country and kept everyone entertained and engaged with good food, good wine and good company. This was particularly impressive taking into account that “lockdown” had only just come to an end. In August, we hope to host a similar but larger Tournament with up to 12 teams following the same format.
The Marquee is always available to Club members who want to hold a birthday party or any type of celebration. Let us know if you want to use the venue and we can help get this organised.
Our August Vets tournament 
Our events marquee (formal) 
Our events marquee (informal) ClubMark
ClubMark is a nationally recognised standard provided by England Hockey to confirm that your Club is well run and has all the proper policies in place to make sure members can play hockey safely – and we have achieved this during the current season. Well done to Adrian Smith for getting us there (and slightly ahead of plan). You can see a copy of the certificate in the Clubhouse.
There are only a few Clubs in Sussex that have achieved this accreditation and prospective members (particularly younger members) may be encouraged to join us because we have got to this level.
Club House
We have continued to develop and grow our facilities around the Club House – improved outside space and increased use of the Marquee and will continue to do this over the next year. If you have some ideas or suggestions let me know.
Over the last month of the season, we provided Hot Teas and this appeared to be successful and well received. Whilst this was a trial our intention is to continue to do this next season rather than look to each team to deliver this when they are playing at home.
Our clubhouse 
Clubhouse socials 
Teas in the marquee Running the Club
In many ways the efficient running of the Club currently relies on the efforts and contribution of a small group of members to organise and deliver what we need. This has become more challenging as the Club’s activities have expanded significantly since we moved to Angmering.
This means that this type of model is not really sustainable, and we will need to move to a more commercial basis for the delivery of these services. This will also better reflect the true costs of running the Club. The details of this are being discussed as we speak and the ideas / inputs will be shared with club members via the AGM and member communications as the options progress in this area. If you are interested in helping at the Club in any way, please do come forward, as the number of jobs that need doing is ever increasing as the Club grows and moves forward – which is fantastic and really exciting, showing that Worthing Hockey Club is in a great place as we look forward to the next season and beyond.
Many thanks,
JH – Chair
Mens and Wolves Boys Section
A season of consolidation, building on home grown players coming through the ranks
The Men’s section ran 6 full teams for the 2021/22 season which was quite an achievement in the circumstances, coming off the back of a curtailed campaign in 2020/21. All of the leagues were completed which was great to see.
The Men’s 1’s consolidated their position in the newly formed South East League structure with a mid-table finish in Division 1 West, featuring National Premier League club 2nd XIs amongst its teams. After a strong start comprising some red hot home form, the season slipped away somewhat with some challenges around availability. The aim is to find a top coach and help push for the top of the table. Similarly, the Men’s 2’s finished in a solid enough position in the Division 1 Martlets League, without ever challenging the top of the league. They were ably led by skipper, Nathan Mays, who returned a 20+ goal season, with a number of younger players gaining valuable experience both within this league and providing support to the Men’s 1’s squad.
Mens 1st XI 
Mens 2nd XI In the Division 2 Martlets League, the Men’s 3’s and 4’s came head to head. The 3’s had a slow start to the season, hampered by losing a number of players, promoted to the 2’s. However, they recovered strongly, with a few new signings of their own and were never in any danger, steering well clear of the bottom 4. The 4’s earned promotion to Division 1 after completing the season, winning 15 games out of 22 and returning the least amount of goals conceded in the league thanks to their exceptional goalkeeper Alex Hall. They finished runner up to a strong EG 3’s side.
David Edmondson, WHC Men’s 4s team manager commented “We started strong, had a little wobble after Christmas but then pulled it back and got our promotion, which we are really pleased about. A lot of the games have been very tight, it is a competitive league and we are all really happy and looking forward to next season.”
Mens 4th XI 
Mens O45s The Men’s 5’s were unfortunately relegated from Division 3 and will now join the 6’s in Division 4 next season. It was a tough season without a settled side, but the 5’s should prove to be the side to watch next season, gunning to bounce back with promotion. The 6’s played a vital role in bringing new players into Men’s hockey and providing an environment for everyone to be part of the club and play a reasonable standard of competitive hockey. They ultimately found it tough going in Division 4.
On Development side, the Wolves Boys U16 squad had another strong season, finishing in the playoff positions, narrowly missing out in the triangular end of seasons matches which ultimately decided the league. Just as impressively, 2 of the team represented Sussex at U13 and U15 level respectively whilst others also played for the Mens 5s and Mens 6s as they move into senior hockey.
Wolves U16 
Sussex Wolves A great season all round, and we’re all looking forward to the next one.
DE – Mens Club Captain (incoming 2022). IP 2021/22
Ladies and Llamas Girls Section
Positive season across the board with more new players and increased availability
We feel very lucky to have been able to complete a full season of games with strong numbers and great results across the ladies section.
Ladies 1s achieved an impressive promotion capitalising on working as a team both on and off the pitch utilising the dedicated coaching from Jez.
The impact of regular, structured coaching has had a very positive effect on this team and is shown in skills and knowledge of the players which reflects in the formation and wins.
Ladies 1s 
Ladies 1s 
Ladies 1s Ladies 2s have had a hugely successful season fighting their way up the table each week. This again is a positive result from the weekly coaching and having management pitch-side from John during many of their games. This team has seen a great increase in numbers attending training and avalible for games.
Ladies 2s 
Ladies teams The Llamas have had an incredibly impressive season. Several of the junior girls have this season achieved selection and play for Sussex, showing the development and success of this team.
Sussex Llamas 
Sussex Llamas 
Llamas U16 I am so immensely proud of each and every ladies section member and the determination to continue playing games through a very challenging year.
The teamwork and bond between all the ladies is visible and both sides have grown from strength to strength exponentially.
While part of the season was still restricted due to the ongoing Covid pandemic, all players played their part in supporting the club and teams and this is reflected in the scores and availability each week.
With promotion for the Ladies 1s to Division 1, a top 4th placing for the ladies 2s, the wealth of the youth, enthusiasm and skills generating from the Junior Llamas section, I can say without reservation we will be building on this season’s success and carry this forward into the coming season.
There is an element of excitement and the real prospect of attaining a ladies third XI team, which ensures that there can only be more opportunities and more games and safeguarding a solid ladies section to WHC.
In summary, this has been an incredibly rewarding and motivating season for all ladies, of all ages playing for WHC. Not only were their successes each week at both home and away games resulting in a team promotion but more importantly the number of ladies attending training and making themselves available each week to play is hugely inspiring. There is now real positivity within the section from the growth of the Llamas right through every team.
KN-S – Ladies Club Captain
Comets U12 Junior Section
A season of firsts and enormous progress for the Sunday morning juniors
At last years end of season celebrations, we had 30 U12 juniors – this year we had over 50 ! That marks the fantastic progress that has been made this season with a combination of 3 main activities :
- Player recruitment by advertising in schools and working with Activ 8 for Kids to run 4 days of Holiday Camp hockey to help attract new players
- Regular coaching on Sunday mornings ay Angmering led by Rob Warner and Rex Fuller and supported by a growing number of coaches. Please do join the coaching team if you can, we need more coaches as the number of players continue to grow
- Regular match play against other clubs across Sussex. For the first time we ran U10 matches as well as U12 matches for the boys and girls. These took the form of multi club mini tournaments hosted by clubs across the county, with Worthing competing strongly with a good set of results.
The highlight of the season from a matches point of view was the Ron Easton West tournament, where the girls U12s finished 3rd and the boys U12s finished 1st with an unbeaten set of results. This led to the boys playing in the Ron Easton Sussex Final, eventually finishing as Runners Up in the overall tournament – a great achievement from the team.
Boys U12s 
Girls U12s Over the course of the season at Angmering we hosted Girls U12 matches on a full pitch, boys and girls U12 mini tournaments on half pitches, an U10 boys mini tournament on half pitches and ended the season with a larger half day mini festival with a total of 8 teams playing multiple matches with nearly 100 players involved across the morning – it was lovely to see and so encouraging to see the next generation of players coming through.
Holiday hockey camps 
Sunday U12s training RF – Junior Development Officer, DN U12 Boys Coach
That concludes our review of 2021/22 – what a season it’s been. We look forward to seeing you all for 2022/23 which starts again with pre-season training from August. Thanks to all that make this happen !
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Juniors celebrate end of a fantastic season in fine style !
Worthing Hockey Club’s junior section celebrated the end of a fantastic 2021/22 in style under the Angmering sunshine ! First up, the Wolves and Llamas Under 16 boys and girls development teams played their 2nd annual matches against their parents. The Wolves did not hold back and beat their parents 4-3. Next up were the Llamas – with no substitutions and the spring day getting warmer, both sides played hard with the parents winning 2-0 in the end. Each game finished with the teams receiving their end of season medals and the Player of the Season trophies were presented. The day ended with players, parents, families and friends enjoying a well earned BBQ.
This was followed the next week by over 50 under 12 Comets boys and girls playing matches in equally warm spring sunshine. Each player was awarded with a medal for their brilliant achievements during the season, with Player of the Season awarded to both Girls U12 and Boys U12 – the day was again rounded off with the now customary BBQ ! Congratulations to all for a fantastic season.
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Ladies 1st XI secure promotion to Division 1
Worthing Ladies 1st XI finished the South East Martlets Division 2 season with a run of 7 wins from 8 matches since christmas to finish runners up in the league and secure promotion to Division 1 for next season – Congratulations to the whole team !
The 10 team league was contested throughout the season, with Worthing’s promotion chances coming down to an 8-3 win on the final day of the season !
The full league results can be viewed by clicking here.
