New season

So here we are at the end of the first league weekend of the new season, with all teams in action and some junior matches too.  It has been a while since my last post, so this one is a bit of a catch-up.  This comes after a busy pre-season including a number of friendlies following our open day at the start of September which was extremely well attended by the men, the ladies and the juniors with a number of new faces which was fantastic to see.  On top of that, the planning application for the redevelopment of Newlands (including our two pitches and a clubhouse) has been formally validated and is out in public for consultation.  The new training schedule has been up and running for several weeks and is also seing lots of older juniors, and seniors working on fitness and skill.  Sunday mornings has been expertly run as usual by Emma, and load of new faces, especially the littl'uns who are playing quickstiks with slightly lighter sticks and slightly larger and lighter balls, which is really good for teaching them the basics.  Busy, busy, busy.

Yesterday I played in the 5ths, having previously umpired the 3rds.  We had a really good game, but were undone by some fantastic crisp passing and finishing by the juniors in Bracknell's development-style team.  On a couple of occasions I was completely bypassed by the Bracknell youngsters moving at speed and passing the ball into the goal.  While I don't like losing, I had to admire their ability and teamwork.  In a couple of years time, I don't think I'll even get close to them, not that that will stop me trying.  Last year, I played the first couple of 5th's games with 9 players, and the other teams were playing with 11 or at best 12.  Yesterday all the men's teams had at least 12, and we put out a Vintage and a Badgers, so we have increased the depth of our playing force.

So well done to the team that has got the season up and running, don't forget to work on fitness, try and pay your subs on time, and let's support the planning so in a year or so we are playing on some brand spanking new astros.