Chow down at 4pm

Today I was reminded of how it used to be by my old colleague-in-arms Neil versus how it is now.  When I first started playing adult hockey at 13 for Letchworth (and I was the smallest boy in my year), we all started outside the clubhouse on the grass pitches (weather permitting) at 2.15.  At 4pm, matches finished, we washed the mud off in the showers, and convened in the clubhouse for teas and a beer, or in my case a weak lemonade shandy.  At 4.30pm, the clubhouse would have Home and Away sides from 3 Men's and a couple of Ladies matches in it.  Sometime around 7pm, our away teams would arrive, and the clubhouse remained heaving until at least 9pm, usually later.

Sadly, those days are no longer with us, as with astro pitches being in use throughout the day, we rarely have more than two matches worth of teams in the clubhouse at Chalfont Park at any one time, and with the pitches no longer being by the clubhouse, we often only get half-hearted attendance back at the clubhouse.  I think this is a huge shame, as for me, win or lose, the social element is a key part of Hockey, and even if sometimes a little bit inconvenient, I would always encourage players (and supporters) to go back to the clubhouse.

Saturday was a rare example, despite the late 4.30pm start time, of both my team and the opposition returning to our clubhouse for teas, and finding a few of the Vintagers still there drinking some Rebellion (which I can thoroughly recommend).  Of course, it had taken our opposition a little while to find the clubhouse, as they had failed to follow me down Rickmansworth Lane and had taken a sat-nav route via Denham.  When they eventually arrived, baked potatoes and topping, tea and Rebellion were consumed.  My son and I partook, even though we were going out for Moules Frites within the hour (and I still had room for a pudding).

A clubhouse by an astro is still the ideal, and I was reminded of this when umpiring the 4ths morning match in Newbury, where a new clubhouse has just been built next to an existing astro, and everyone from both sides stayed for tea.  And of course, this is what our astro project is all about, and why we are seeking the funding pledges and all the hard work is being done by many people to help us get there.  I look back fondly on the 4pm chow down, though not the muddy pitches, but if we keep pushing our vision, we can have both astros and a co-located clubhouse and the best of both worlds.