Dear Secretary / Head of PE

As we enter the second half of the season there are a number of important matters that must be brought to your attention.

I would request that you bring this circular and its various enclosures to the attention of all your members as soon as possible and also ensure they are made fully aware of any changes and implications.

Thanks to all those clubs and schools who forwarded the necessary documentation and fees to the WHU by the required date. I appreciate that, for a large number of you, having to return the forms so early in the season does make life a little difficult, however the correct manner in which the vast majority were returned was much appreciated. There are a number of clubs who have queries outstanding and I would ask them to return the amended forms as soon as possible and by the 31^st January 2001 at the very latest.

I would like to remind all Clubs to check their present membership to ensure that all players, coaches and umpires are registered with the WHU, and in the case of the umpires, with the WHUA as well. Please take into account any players or officials that may have joined your club since the start of the season as it is vital that they are all registered with the WHU to guarantee their insurance cover. I am aware that a number of clubs have yet to register some youth players and I would remind you that ALL youth players under the age of 18 as at 1 January 2001 must be registered, to conform with our insurance cover. The consequences of clubs allowing players to represent their clubs without them being registered are extremely serious, both on the legal front and from the WHU perspective.

A blank Registration Form is enclosed and I would ask that any new returns are forwarded, together with the respective fee(s) to: -

A listing of your club details and registrations to date will be sent to Club Secretaries shortly and I would request that the details are checked and returned as soon as possible. Please ensure dates of birth are entered against any Registered Under-18 member of your club and also cross out the name and address of any individual who is no longer associated with your club. In a similar vein an increasing amount of our communications is now being carried out by e-mail and completion of the appropriate section of the return would be appreciated. This will also enable us to include e-mail addresses of club officials in next years Handbook.

I would remind all clubs that no transfer of any player is permitted after 31 December of each year unless approved by the WHU Management Committee for exceptional circumstances or if the club disbands or ceases to play. Additionally league rules vary and I would recommend that these also be checked before agreeing to a transfer request.

As indicated in the previous circular, a copy of the audited accounts for the year ended 31 December 1999 is enclosed, having been approved by Council. Those of you who attended the WHU AGM last year will recall that the accounts were not available to approve at the meeting and if any person or club wishes not to accept the accounts please contact the WHU office as soon as possible but by 3 March at the latest.

A number of schools have yet to pay their Registration fee and I would ask that the Heads of PE concerned forward their fee by return, to their County Secretary as detailed in the WHU Handbook. The Key Stage 3 video is nearing completion and the whole KS3 pack will shortly be available. We are extremely grateful to Penalty Sports Ltd, the manufacturing arm of Gilmour Sports, and the Sports Council for Wales’s Sportsmatch team for their sponsorship of the packs. Order forms will be included in the next School mailing.

All clubs and those schools who made the request, have now received their WHU Prize Draw tickets, and are hopefully well on the way to selling their allocation.

This year’s prize is the biggest yet with the winner receiving two tickets for ITALY V WALES in Rome on 8 April 2001 and three nights bed and breakfast in a central Rome hotel including flights from either Cardiff or Manchester

As a large number of clubs and schools have found in previous years, the 70% they retain of every ticket sold has helped them to raise much needed funds and if any club or school requires a further supply please contact Anne Mullin on 01633 420326 immediately. Please place the attached poster on your notice board to help advertise this excellent opportunity to assist you in your fund raising.

You may be aware that Martin Gilbody and David Bunyan both resigned from their respective positions late last year. We are presently advertising in various publications for replacements and I would like to take this opportunity of thanking both Martin and David for their hard work over the years and wish them both well in their future work within the sport. They have both been extremely successful, with Wales having achieved their highest ever-European ranking and also having qualified for the World Cup Qualifying Tournament to be held later this year in Scotland.

Following changes in a number of contact telephone numbers an updated media list is enclosed. Please remember that if you regularly forward match reports etc to your local correspondent you are more likely to receive regular coverage.

In your WHU Handbook please delete reference to Pam Richards (under RDO – North) on page 3 and insert Peter Rosser 01745 590254 (O) and 07989 585386 (M). We wish Pam all the very best in her new position as a lecturer at Edge Hill College.

Some of you may recall the free competition that was run earlier in the season to encourage clubs to register all their youth and mini hockey members. I am please to tell you that Colwyn Bay LHC were the overall winners with 102 youth and mini members registered with the WHU. Paul Edwards (Cannock and Wales) will be presenting Colwyn Bay with their prize of a development pack containing sticks, balls, cones and goalkeeping kit as well as giving the youth players a coaching and skills session. Equal second were Whitchurch HC and Abergavenny LHC with similar skills and coaching sessions to be undertaken by David Hacker (Firebrands, Wales & GB) and a member of the Senior Women’s squad, respectively, to be arranged. Congratulations to all three clubs together with those clubs who overall registered a large increase in junior and mini membership.

This Sports Council for Wales’s initiative is aimed at increasing participation in sport at Primary School level throughout Wales. Simply put, each school selects 2 sports out of the 7 available with additional sports specific and generic training and coaching undertaken by the Dragon Sport Officers. The rules are simplified, uses smaller sized equipment and playing areas and makes even training more fun with the intention that every girl and boy can enjoy the feeling of success. Volunteers are a vital part of the initiative – particularly the parents who can help out by providing transport, assisting with the sessions, looking after the finances or washing the kit! With the overall hockey participation numbers throughout Wales dropping it is vital that hockey is one of the sports selected and I would ask that every club contact its local coordinator (one in every Unitary Authority). They will be able to guide you to the schools that wish to select hockey as one of their Dragon Sports and you may even be able to influence the schools’ decisions if you offer sufficient help and links for players into your own club. A list of all the Dragon Sport Coordinators is enclosed. Please let the WHU office know of any particular successes that you have so that we can share them with other clubs.

You may have noticed an additional logo at the top of this circular. This is in connection with the FIH announcing that 2001 will be known as the official ‘Year of The Youth’ and organising a considerable number of events, worldwide, to celebrate the theme. For our part the WHU will be selecting a minimum of 8 events, amongst which will be the Aberystwyth Development Camp (Boys and Girls), participation in a global hockey marathon on 12/13 May, a coaching course for those who coach children, an young umpires course together with many other events. Our own Anne Ellis is the FIH figurehead for the YOTY with Margaret Smith coordinating the Welsh activity. A letter from Margaret will follow shortly giving all clubs and schools more detailed information on how and where they can participate including full details of a competition open to all youth players with a prize second to none! Further information can be obtained from either Margaret or the WHU office and if any club or school would like a copy of the logo (colour or black and white) for insertion on their websites or club / school headed paper please forward your request to: -

The new application forms will shortly be available either from the WHU office or by telephoning MBNA direct on 0800 776262 quoting reference BA74. Every new card taken out by one of your club members will result in £20 being forwarded to your club so this in another excellent opportunity to raise club funds.

A reminder that the Annual General Meeting of the Welsh Hockey Union will be held at 14:15 on Saturday 16 June 2001 at Ladywell House, Newtown. It is vital that as many representatives attend as possible and please put the date in your diary now.

How many clubs wish they had access to more funds? I think it is safe to say all of them. Through the Welsh Association of Local Sports Councils six road shows are being organised throughout Wales, which are aimed at giving you practical hints and information on how to raise additional funds. The workshops (which are free) will be held at the following venues: -

1 Feb St Peters Civic Hall, Carmarthen 19:00 – 22:00

2 Feb Newport (Gwent) Tennis Centre 19:00 – 22:00

13 Feb County Hall, Mold 19:00 – 22:00

28 Feb Porthmadog Leisure Centre 19:00 – 22:00

14 Mar Llandrindod Pavilion 19:00 – 22:00

20 Mar Aberaeron Civic Centre 19:00 – 22:00

If any club or school would like to ‘twin’ with a foreign club or school, details can be found in a new section of the FIH Year Of The Youth website at: -

For the first time the WHU intends to hold a joint Boys and Girls Camp. It is an excellent opportunity for younger players, irrespective of ability, to enjoy an intensive hockey week, improve their skills and meet a lot of new friends. Places are limited to the first 100 applicants (who should all be aged under 16 as at 1 January 2001) and I would ask all clubs and schools to place the attached posters and application forms on their notice-boards. Would Club Secretaries also ensure their Youth Coordinators / Secretaries are aware of the opportunity.

Full details of the Boy’s U-12 Centres of Development to be held in Cardiff (Whitchurch High School) and Colwyn Bay (Rydal Penrhos School) on 19 February 2001 have already been forwarded to all appropriate Men’s Clubs and I would ask you to ensure that you send your replies in good time. Further Centres will be held during May half term at the same venues. We are more than willing to arrange a similar Centre in the West and, as this will be subject to demand, I would ask all clubs in that area to let the office know if they would be interested in supporting such a venture.

Despite the fact that an increasing amount of work within the WHU is undertaken by computer we are experiencing difficulties in finding available space to store the records of the Union and its predecessors the WHA and WWHA. If you can help in any way or know of anybody who has storage space comparatively close to Cardiff please let the WHU office know. Our grateful thanks go to both Pat and David Gray (Whitchurch HC) and their company TB Davies & Co who have been extremely kind in allowing us to store a substantial amount of kit at their premises over the past few months.

Our congratulations go to Meryl Roberts (Colwyn Bay HC) who has been voted Conwy County Borough Coach of the Year for the second successive year. As you will have seen from the Registration Competition results, Meryl (together with her husband John) spend a substantial amount of time coaching and encouraging their young players and this award is a tribute to her hard work.

The 3^rd Welsh Festival of Youth Hockey will take place 23^rd – 27^th July 2001. The Festival will be part of Welsh Hockey’s contribution to the International Hockey Federation’s "Year of the Youth" initiative. This year the Welsh Hockey Union is solely responsible for the organization of the Festival, our former associates, "World of Sport", have decided to concentrate on other aspects of their sporting business. The opportunity has been taken to review the operation and structure of the Festival and this year the Festival is targeted at U-14 and U-16 Boys’ Teams and Girls’ Teams with an Entry Fee of £350 per team. Teams will be provided with a list of reasonably priced accommodation options within the City, some of which will be on site and all matches will be played on Artificial Turf at venues in and around Cardiff.

Full details of the Festival are available from the Welsh Hockey Union office and will be available on the Welsh Hockey Web Site.

Festival Manager: John Williams 01633-420326 (H) (F)

Festival Secretary Roger Caddick 029-2036-2860 (H) (F)

We wish to ascertain whether including Under-12’s would be popular in future years, please let us have your own views.

It is vital that if any Club makes payments to coaches, other than for basic mileage reimbursement, that a simple form of receipt must be obtained from the recipient confirming that they will declare the payment to the Inland Revenue authorities.

Following discussions between the WHU and The Order of St. John Priory for Wales, First Aid courses designed specifically for hockey have now been made available. It is likely that very few, if any, of your members have an up to date First Aid qualification and as funding should be available through Community Chest, it is likely that the courses will be very popular. Two courses are available, one for those people likely to be involved with younger players and one for those involved with senior players. Costs are £20 and £35 respectively with the course taking approximately 7 hours in total to complete. It is likely therefore that each course will be spread over 2 or 3 sessions. The WHU feel that clubs should ideally have one qualified First Aider for each team that they run and we strongly recommend that you take this opportunity to work towards this ideal. Courses will be arranged in various locations and further details will be forwarded shortly. You will be aware that Community Chest applications must be made and approved prior to the event taking place and you should contact your RDO for details.

Men’s Indoor Championship Winners – To be held on 28 January 2001 at Caerleon, Newport

Women’s County Championship Winners – Glamorgan

Women’s Indoor Championship Winners – Swansea Ladies HC

Women’s U-16 Regional Championship Winners – South

Women’s U-18 Regional Championship Winners – South

Women’s U-21 Regional Championship Winners – North

I would like to wish you all the very best for a successful second half of the season.

Chris Brewer

Director of Hockey