Men's 1st XI
Havant Hockey Club Men’s 1st XI will be staying in the England Hockey League South Premier Division 1 next season. The realisation finally came home after a disappointing 1-3 defeat against Old Georgians at Havant College on 28 March. Old Georgians knew that to gain the only promotion place available, rivals Sevenoaks would need to lose their final game the next day away to Old Cranleighans. They were to be disappointed. Sevenoaks won the game 2-0. The race was over and Sevenoaks had finally won the season long three team race against Old Georgians and Havant for promotion to the National League.
After the match I spoke to Havant 1st XI Coach Ady Adams about the prospects for next season. Faced with the knowledge that only one team is promoted from the Regional League South Premier Division One. I asked Adams how he saw the Club’s prospects for promotion back to the National league. He said ‘The squad we have had this season has shown the quality needed for promotion. This is evident from our position in the league and our points tally. At this club we rely to an extent on our talented young players. The difficulty this can bring is retaining them. Sometimes just as they are reaching their best, it coincides with starting university. Logistically that often means they are unable to continue playing for Havant. There is not much we can do about that, but we will continue bringing young players through on the present lines of putting a team together with a mixture of young and experienced players. Overall, I am generally happy with the squad; I would just like to add one or two experienced top quality players to compliment what I have. Once the dust has settled on the current campaign we will take stock and set about building a league winning squad for next year.’
Report from Junior Captain
A thriving junior section is important to Havant Hockey Club. Junior Captain Peter Symonds talking about the section to Postcode said ‘Across the Junior section this season we have again seen a growth in numbers overall to a total membership of some 220. Our key aim is to grow our sport and provide an environment where the children can enjoy their sport in a safe and stimulating way. Teams range from the Minis section (under 8 & under 10) up to under 16 level with matches most Sundays across a range of County and national competitions. We currently have two teams in regional finals and already one team through to a County final with another semi-final game still to be played.
‘We saw success at the recent annual Havant Borough Sports Awards with two winners. The Junior Sportsman award went to Tomek Bruml (pictured below receiving his award from the Mayor of Havant) for his selection to England under 16s (the third year running a club member has won this) and the youth team of the year went to the boys under 16s for reaching their national finals last year.’
