Hockey section update July 2020

I hope this update finds all members safe and well after so many of the challenges faced over the last three months. I wanted to take the opportunity to update you on a number of activities and developments within the hockey section as well as to begin the process of preparing for the start of the 20/21 season. Our approach is currently aligned to England Hockey guidelines, with the expectation of the competitive leagues starting in mid-September (albeit with certain social distancing restrictions applied to matches). The opening of The Edge for socially distanced hockey for the last 6 weeks has been hugely successful and I would like to thank all of you who have used The Edge with such diligence to the guidelines. Many thanks also to those of you who have made contributions to the club finances when bringing non-members down with you. The level of contribution is up to you and your guest, but as you read further, you will see that every little helps. If you have not yet made your contribution and want to know how to pay money over, please contact myself or a relevant Exec member. Details of the Hockey Exec members can be found on the hockey section Contact Us page Like so many clubs, businesses and entities, we have been significantly challenged by Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown. To help understand the challenges for the section, I wanted to take the opportunity to give you a broader sense of how the hockey section operates and also where your membership subscription, match and training fees go. Apologies to those of you who already know this, but a number of people have asked for clarification. When you pay your hockey membership subscription, you become a member of the whole club, which is AECC. AECC comprises the Cricket, Tennis, Hockey and Squash sections, with the clubhouse based at Alderley Edge Cricket Club for all sections, and where our changing rooms, shower, tea and bar facilities are accommodated. Your membership subscription monies go to AECC and then each section receives back a proportion of those monies to help fund its annual section operation. Within the hockey section, the membership contribution, together with your training and match fees, goes towards funding the following: Affiliation and competition fees to England Hockey, North, North-West, Cheshire and Greater Manchester Hockey Leagues/Associations. Loan repayment (for those of you not aware, AECC is repaying to a bank a 15-year loan secured on AECC property taken out to support the construction of The Edge pitch and the hockey section contributes £32,000 per annum towards this repayment). Coaching provision, which is aligned with and adheres to all England Hockey and health and safety guidelines. Additional pitch hire – we pay circa £13,000 a season to various schools for additional pitches to The Edge. Teas post each match for the opposition and home teams at all levels. Maintenance / ground staff, e.g. to maintain The Edge pitch. Umpire payments where required. Capital expenditure projects as and when required. Equipment such as goals, balls etc ….   As you can imagine, the membership subscription, training and match fees are not enough to cover the section’s annual expenditure, so we must apply ourselves to raise additional funds and this comes in several forms, as highlighted below: General sponsorship – we gratefully acknowledge the support our new main sponsors Gleave Homes gives toward both the senior and junior hockey sections. Board sponsorship at The Edge – this has waned recently and Mike Parkin has very kindly volunteered to ensure we manage the renewals and attract more new board sponsors – so please if anyone can provide him with suggested new individuals or companies to sponsor a board, please do so, as it will help the club considerably. Hockey camps, Top-up sessions, Pre-season blasts. Club Dinner. Social events such as the Club Christmas Dinner, comedy evening etc. Hockey section fireworks. Annual Masters Tournament. General events – e.g. hosting England Hockey tournaments. Back to Hockey sessions. Coffee machine and tuck shop in the shed at The Edge. Personal Contributions.   We have been finding it more challenging to ensure we have the additional income to help the running of the section and clearly the current situation with Covid-19 has made it even more challenging. We are dedicated in maintaining the physical and coaching environment that has seen the club grow so successfully over the last 10 years as best as we can, but inevitably the current situation means that there are some bumps in the road ahead. In simple terms, the impact of Covid-19 is that we expect an income shortfall in the 2020 calendar year of circa £20k, broadly through the premature end to last season, not being able to run top up/summer camps, the fireworks in November and whilst we have an end of season dinner/ball in discussion within the executive an club we think this is now unlikely to happen with a final decision to be taken in the next couple of months . The Hockey Exec has been taking a long hard look at our costs to see what options we have to reduce/defer our outgoings and we have also been looking at other ways to raise income. Fortunately being part of a bigger sports club means that we have had the support to help manage the section budget in the short term, with the club paying both our Quarter 2 loan payments and 2/3rds of our quarter 3 payment, as well loaning the section £4000 to assist with the challenge of cash flow, all in a period where the overall clubs income had reduced to zero. As we move through this challenging period, the Hockey Exec would like to ask for your support in the following areas:   Ensuring all outstanding Match Fees are up to date – please check your teamo account to ensure you have none outstanding before the start of the season For this season we will be asking each member playing senior hockey to contribute an additional £20 at the start of the season. (details of how to be confirmed) Please support the socially distanced 360 camps that we and 360 have worked in a short period to make available to run over the summer months. These camps will really help to raise income, as well as giving you the opportunity to develop and sharpen your hockey skills ahead of the next season. Please support the hockey summer raffle we are looking to run soon, either by the provision of a prize (please contact Sam@Hardy.com), or by you and your family and friends purchasing tickets - details following soon. If you or anyone you know can help secure a new board sponsor for advertising at The Edge, that would be immensely helpful. Actively and strongly support our social events when they recommence. As always, we are also here to help anyone who is having financial challenges so please reach out to any of the Executive if you would like to discuss support to play Looking ahead The Hockey club dinner is still planned for Oct 3 rd , however we are very reliant on government social distancing rules, so prudently we are currently budgeting for it not happening. We will update all of you as soon as we receive more information and we are also looking at other alternatives if Oct 3 rd is not safely achievable. England Hockey has issued a 5-step guide to the resumption of hockey and currently the hockey community is working to the planned return to competitive hockey in September, with many leagues looking to start mid-September. In fact several leagues have already published their intended fixture lists. With that in mind, the respective Exec members and Chairs (Men’s, Ladies, Youth and Junior) have started their planning and indeed the respective 1 st team squads will start their training week commencing 20 th July. All other club training will start at the beginning of September and that schedule will hopefully be published for you to all see very shortly. Please note that with the 1’s training sessions and the 360 camps (www.360hockey.uk) the pitch will be unavailable for general use at these times (including Monday to Thursday 6.30pm to 8pm). We will post a schedule online for everyone to see. Additionally, we will confirm the start of the Sunday morning sessions when we receive and review the next England Hockey guidance. The Chairs with the respective coaches are also starting to look at the relevant training squads. These are VERY provisional at this stage, but please be aware that there will be movement through a lot of the sides as we move towards the start of the season. We will very shortly confirm the training days and times for all teams and sections across the club and you will see this via Teamo and Facebook and it will be published on the AEHC web site.   At this point I would like to thank all the Chairs, Captains, Mangers, and administration supporters of all teams, as we could not function as a section without you.   Kit Supplier update We have been working in the background to create a more efficient provision of playing kit for the membership. I would like to thank Gilmours for their service and support over the last 10 years or so and their help in the kit provision. We are pleased to announce that One Sports Warehouse (Simon Lee) will become our official kit supplier. We hope to formalise this in early August. There will be a dedicated Alderley Edge Hockey Club section on their web site where all kit can be ordered. Please note as previously that if you require a number on your shirt, please confirm that detail with James Riley (Men) and Paul Buckingham (Ladies). We have agreed with Simon that there will be a clear service level agreement as regards delivery and a pro-active communication approach should there be any delays or issues. Additionally, One Sports Warehouse can offer members the full range of hockey products on their site, including sticks, footwear, accessories etc. At certain times both during the season and in the off season, there will additionally be special discount codes given to AEHC members to buy hockey product from One Sports Warehouse. We have also agreed with Simon the attendance of his mobile shop at The Edge for a number of times per season and these visits will be advertised in advance. Many thanks to Katy Stead for the great job she does as the club’s kit liaison officer who will be happy to answer any questions. I am very much hoping that as a whole club we can take the next steps forward to rise to the challenges we face. The return of the hockey season brings the opportunity for everyone at Alderley Edge Hockey to have the chance of not only playing but being part of such a vibrant club and getting the opportunity to support and share in that culture. My thanks to everyone that supports the club. I think more than ever that the collective nature of the volunteer support will be the key to success in so many organisations and clubs, so please if anyone else would like to help out this season, do let me or any of the hockey Exec know. Keep safe and looking forward to the start of the season.   Phil Benton President, Alderley Edge Hockey Club