It is our pleasure to introduce ourselves as the team captains for the upcoming season. Our contact details, and the league information for each team, are as follows: 

  

1st Team          Kate Dennis    07790 812356        

2nd Team       Trixie Chapman    07795 188184      

3rd Team          Zoe Coombes    07518 299175      

4th Team          Jenna Roper    07727 280036     (Gareth Jenna’s Dad)

 

The captaincy team will be supported by vice captains, who are there to help you as much as the captains. The vice captains will be introduced to you by your captains at the beginning of the season. 

 Communication 

This season we will be using WhatsApp Winscombe Ladies Hockey Club ‘Announcements’  where we will place all club information throughout the season. We will continue with the team WhatsApp groups, as this is the most efficient way for captains to post messages to all and to monitor who has received and read them. You must be at least 16 years old to be in the groups. If you are under the age 16, the relevant parent or carer for that individual will be added.  

The club uses Teamer for all training and match communication. You are responsible for updating your own availability and responding to messages in a timely fashion. Captains and coaches rely on this information so it must be accurate. Please respond to your match and training Teamer message by Tuesday 6pm. This allows coaches sufficient time to plan their sessions and captains time to deal with any changes. If you do not respond to your Teamer message by the deadline, captains will have to assume you are unavailable, which may result in someone else being asked to play in your place. In this situation, and if someone else has accepted, captains cannot then guarantee you/your daughter a place in the team for that week. TEAMER GUIDANCE

 Pre-season Training 

As we prepare ourselves for the upcoming season, we’d like to invite all members to pre-season training. This will be free of charge to all members and will be led by a Level 2 coach,The individual dates of each are shown below for your calendars, and Teamer notifications will be sent weekly. Please accept/ decline in a timely manner. 

Wednesday 5th August – 19:00 – 20:30 – Sidcot Astroturf 

Wednesday 12th August – 19:00 – 20:30 – Sidcot Astroturf 

Wednesday 19th August – 19:00 – 20:00 – Sidcot Astroturf 

Wednesday 26th August – 19:00 – 20:00 – Sidcot Astroturf 

 Club Training 

Training for the 2025/26 season takes place from w/c 31st August 2026 through to w/c 29th March 2027. Please see full calendar at the end for details on the Christmas break. Training runs from 19:00 - 20:30 with the 1st and 2nd teams training on a Wednesday and 3rd and 4th teams training on a Thursday. 

 Club Day 

Our annual Club Day will take place on Saturday 12th September. This is a key date for your social calendar. Don’t forget it’s also free for all club members. Invitations will be sent by Teamer. The day will be based around game play and gives you an opportunity to meet members across the whole club. 

Please arrive at the pitch for 12:30 where you will be welcomed by Winscombe Ladies Hockey Club President, Bernie Richardson. Once we’re done on the pitch, please stick around for teas in the pavilion with the afternoon finishing at 16:00. 

 Matches & Match Selection 

Matches are usually played on Saturdays, either home or away, with all details and information available on Teamer. Friendly matches start from 19th September and league matches from 26th September. Our final league date of the season is 10th April 2026. 

Squads will be reviewed a minimum of four occasions throughout the season and players will be moved according to the selection criteria. Please refer to the selection criteria document attached. Selection for matches is completed on a Monday by the captains, with all those selected receiving an invitation via Teamer for the team they have been selected for. Please note this could be from a team that is not the squad you are part of. Please ensure that you have read and understood both the WLHC selection criteria 2026-2027 and the WLHC Players and Spectators Code of Conduct 2026-2027. 

Equipment 

Players are required to have a suitable stick, shin pads and gum shield. Proper hockey shoes are considered most suitable for wear on the astroturf, but trainers can be worn in emergencies. No studded footwear or blades are allowed on the astroturf. Water is also very important to bring along to matches and training – please do not rely on being able to get it close to the pitch. Please also ensure that if you require any inhalers or other medical equipment, that these are brought with you to both training and matches. 

 Club Welfare Officer 

England Hockey believe that all young people have the right to be safe and enjoy their involvement in hockey and is committed to promoting the welfare of all young people in our sport to protect them from harm alongside the hockey family.  

The Club Welfare Officer is primarily responsible for promoting good practice within the club, to be a named point of contact for young people, parents, coaches, and volunteers, and to follow the correct England Hockey safeguarding procedures if a concern is raised. Within the England Hockey Safeguarding Good Practice is all the relevant information for our club policies with regards to Data storage and retention, Photography, Transport and WhatsApp to name just a few. 

Our Lead Club Welfare Officer is Chloe Davis, and she is currently a primary school teacher so is very familiar with safeguarding and child protection issues. Should you wish to contact Chloe, her mobile number is 07964 191244. Caroline Marsh, our Club Secretary, has also joined her in this role and she can be contacted on 07971 883684.

  Important Dates 

We’ve included a lot of information in the letter above, so we wanted to highlight some of the key dates for your diary below: 

• 5th,12th,19th and 26th August 2026 Pre-season hockey training 19:00 - 20:00 – Sidcot Astroturf 
• W/C 31st August 2026 Training starts 19:00 - 20:30 – Sidcot Astroturf 
• 12th September 2026 - Club Day 12:30 – 16:00 – Sidcot Astroturf 
• 19th September 2026 Pre-season friendly matches 
• 26th September 2026 League games start 
• W/C 7th December 2025 Last week of training for the Christmas break 
• W/C 4th January 2027 Training resumes 19:00 - 20:30 Sidcot Astroturf 
• 10th April 2027 Official League End for Season 2025/26 

It is likely the last week of training will be w/c 29th March, however, if there are matches after this date due to re-arrangements due to weather. Training may continue beyond this date. Keep checking Teamer weekly for training and match notifications. 

And last, but certainly not least, look out on social media for future dates for the AGM and End of Season Party. 

All other relevant club updates throughout the season will be either posted in the WhatsApp groups or on Instagram, or both!  

The club would like to thank our main sponsors Thatchers, Waterproof sponsors Joyner Group and our facility providers Sidcot School, for their continued support. 

Good luck for the season and enjoy your hockey! 

Any questions please do not hesitate to ask your captains, 

 Kate, Trixie, Zoe and Jenna