Welcome to new member players, our expanding cohort of Juniors (13+), to everyone who has enjoyed a summer of sun and rest from hockey. And for those who have been training and playing already through the scorching summer month, here we go again …

Mens hockey commences on Saturday 3rd September with a series of fixtures (M1 - M3) against local rivals, Berkswell & Balsall Common. Look out for messaging from your Captains in the Pitchero app as always, and please please start inputting your Availability to play each week to help the Club and Captains manage matchdays effectively.

Mens Club Training will start on Tuesday 6th September at 7pm. We look forward to these Club development sessions run by M1 Player/Coach, Jamie Clapham. They are our opportunity to build a pattern of play/game structure across the Club, to asses individuals’ playing abilities and understand player ambitions ahead of selection. M1/M2 training (by invitation) is already happening under Tom Harrisons leadership, and will continue from 8pm on Tuesdays also. New players (and I know there’s a few) please don’t be shy, just turn up ready to play at the pitch and we’ll get you on board, advise on EH Player registration, introduced to the Coaching team and Captains, provide any more info you feel you need. See you there!

10th September is our Old Silhillians Hockey Club Day, there will be morning sessions for the Juniors, Ladies and Mens section games in the afternoon, and importantly the Annual General Meeting (AGM) at around 1pm. Please can senior players, umpires and member supporters attend the AGM where the appointment of officials, review of hockey administration, and approval of budget need your support! It’s your Club, please do get involved.  

Season 22/23 memberships, (training and match fees are included within the membership) will become active after the AGM, and I encourage everyone as usual to pay attention to messaging on Pitchero, keep their weekly availability up-to-date and respond quickly to Captains messaging.

17th September there will be a full Club fixture of 5 Mens games (M1 - M5) versus Finchfield.
So there will quickly be playing opportunities for everyone to get involved, get to know one another, for Captains to build their squads of 14 players per team and establish their core team structures that we hope and intend to implement this coming season.

Mens Midlands League hockey starts on 24th September, and for those who take a keen interest in the progress of individual teams in a recently restructured Midlands League the competition format can be found in the England Hockey Game Management System (GMS), where Old Silhillians M1 will be competing in Midlands Division 3 East. Our 5 Men’s teams compete across Midlands Leagues that are competitive and inclusive, whilst we do not have a Development team specifically, we do anticipate that there will be opportunities for our younger players (13+) to progress into the senior/Mens teams when they are not playing in our newly reimagined Lions hockey for the 22/23 season. Silhillians Lions League (SLL) will begin an intra-Club hockey League that provides our young players the opportunity to play alongside senior players in competitive mixed hockey before progressing into the full senior game. More details on this exciting new development will follow from Andre Tchakhotine (Junior Hockey champion).

Any issues, questions or suggestions to make the season run smoothly or help the Club deliver hockey for all, please share with myself, Murray Creed (Director of Hockey) or your Captains (M1 Tom, M3 Simon, M4 John and M5 Ian)

Look forward to seeing everyone on the pitch or in the bar before too long.