A big thank you to all those who took the time to nominate individuals for the club person of the season award. We received 55 nominations from a wide range of members, giving the committee plenty to discuss and consider. The men’s trophy went to Brandon Smith and ladies’ to Ali Jean-Jean. The full list of nominations (with personal summaries) can be found below!

Ali Jean-Jean – Ali is the lead coach in the U12 age group (with all the associated admin of this giant group of kids!). She also umpires her own and other age group matches, plays in the ladies’ 2s where she has a great impact, works people through the DBS process for the club, has set up indoor hockey for some of the junior teams and has been chairing the colts committee meetings. As a coach, she is utterly inspiring and with her no-nonsense, firm but fair attitude, she gets results and her tireless energy and commitment to the U12 age group has not gone unnoticed by many of the parents!

Caz Shaw – As well as sorting out all the county junior liaison and administration, Caz is the lead coach of the very youngest children at HHC. Caz's sessions with the most junior members (4-6 year olds) of the club are just wonderful. They are very well organised, and the little ones are developing not just excellent skills in hockey but in sportsmanship and how to play in a team, all while having fun. Caz contains an extraordinary mix of enthusiasm and no-nonsense approach! You couldn't ask for children to be given a better introduction to a sport.

Charlotte Hetherington – Charlotte is the captain of the Ladies’ 1s – and this season has been a particularly tough one, but Charlotte has pushed on and worked with everything thrown at her. She is so committed to the club. She makes umpiring appearances, and in the summer, she plays development hockey, working with the girls just coming in to play with adults. She was straightaway a volunteer to play mixed in the EH cup, she organises the annual dinner dance…and all our other socials – without charlotte there really would be a massive hole!

Hayley Rogers – Hayley does incredible work in the ladies’ section in the middle placed team (2s coach) - therefore having to work with both the 1s and the 3s to ensure selection is made. She does a great job of building, developing, supporting and motivating – especially the younger players coming through. She is reliable as well as being a force to be reckoned with.

Jen Buckham-Hedges – As well as helping out with coaching on a Sunday, Jen is an umpiring hero! She is never phased, always fair, a clear communicator, strong and confident with her decisions. She has come back from her own injury and umpired one, or often two, games on a Saturday – some of which have been the toughest of fixtures for the Men’s 2s and 3s. She is a supportive umpiring partner with one nominee saying “I wish I was as good as she is!” – high praise indeed, but I think we’d all agree!

Jess Perse – Jess is a great coach who is committed and enthusiastic all the time. She is always positive to the team and wants every player on the pitch to feel valued and that they make a difference to the team. She has been the most dedicated, knowledgeable and supportive coach for the ladies 3s. She was the driving force behind their success last year, resulting in promotion and this year she has continued to build a brilliant team, many of whom have had their first season of ladies hockey. Jess is calm, kind and inspires everyone on the team to strive for improvement. She comes to every game come rain or shine, never misses a training session and spends a huge amount of time sorting teams each week. She never loses her cool and we wouldn’t be where we are without her.

Kat Green - Kat is phenomenal in what she achieves with such a huge U10s coaching group (more than 70 players!). She is always smiling and so encouraging to every player. She greets everyone and is very welcoming, making sure everyone is happy and able to take part whatever their ability. Not only does she seamlessly handle the masses of organisation and logistics, and coach with wonderful enthusiasm, she then heads on to help with the U12s! She also plays herself in the ladies 1s, helps the girls development in the summer league and she also plays mixed – She really is HHC through and through!!

Mel Joyce - Mel works tirelessly every day to try and improve the club. If she’s not helping sort selection and teams for Saturday, she’s coaching the juniors or playing her role on the committee. She’s fully committed to providing a good experience to all members, actively trying to recruit new players, setting up ‘Back to Hockey’ and endeavouring to get various other members to help share the load on coaching, admin, summer league or whatever other topic raises its head! Much of her work goes unseen in the background but her energy, drive and acumen makes everyone else’s job A LOT easier.

Rachel Herbert - As well as being an excellent ambassador for the club and a great, no-nonsense player, Rachel works hard to keep the club functioning as well as it does. She has been a committee member for forever, liaises with the council, organises the boring bits (like changing room issues and tokens among other things) and just to fully add to the excitement, she is also the admin on the ‘wonderful’ EH GMS system!

Trish Heggie – Trish does a huge amount for the club, both at surface level and a whole lot of things most people don’t even know about. Trish is a wonderful supporter and facilitator of youth hockey, and her faith and hard work have made the U14 boys not only a reality but a success! She has run both the U18 girls and the U8 ‘savages’ (wording used by a parent of one! ;0). She is supportive to coaches, both young and old and a supportive voice with a lot of experience that she is happy to share with others just starting out on their coaching journey. She also organises all the kit (including the collections and deliveries!).

Sam Austin – Sam often flies under the radar, but he has captained the Men’s 5s this year and worked hard to create a positive and supportive environment for all levels and abilities of players, despite being injured for a good part of the season. He spends time speaking with players to try to draw the best out of them - the team has been a great environment for both the young lads coming through this season and the more mature players. He has also been working hard at both the U8 and U10 age groups, where he coaches with enthusiasm that he kids enjoy greatly.

Ian Rechner – Ian has been part of the Men’s 4s ‘leadership group’, often being the on-pitch captain. Along with Chris, Ian has stepped up and taken on voluntarily running the men’s club training for the 3/4/5s for the whole season, after the previous coach being unable to continue. He also umpires games on a Saturday and/or Sunday regularly.

Chris Proudfoot – Chris has been part of the Men’s 5s ‘leadership group’, often being the on-pitch captain. Chris, along with Ian, has stepped up and taken on voluntarily running the men’s club training for the 3/4/5s for the whole season, after the previous coach being unable to continue. He also umpires games on a Saturday regularly.

Brandon Smith – Captain of the Men’s 2s, Brandon is a committed club man who always brings loads of energy and enthusiasm. He has built a really good team spirit in the 2s and helped nurture a lot of young players in a really challenging league. He is a positive collaborator with other captains and works to achieve the best for the club as well as his team. He is also a regular umpire (who recently gain his level 1 accreditation – well done Brandon!) and a wonderful character who engages in the social side of HHC as well.

Ian Roberts – Ian has been a fantastic captain for the Men’s 3s this season, both on and off the pitch. He has created a positive and fun environment in which the team has thrived and the quality of hockey and structure have been great. Despite having a busy home life, he has also found the time to coach in the U16 girls age group.

Jon Grocock – Jon puts an awful lot of time and effort into all aspects of Henley Hockey Club. Firstly, as a player, he is also captain of the Men’s 4s, sometimes goes in goal and on occasions, he even sacrifices his own playing to help out with umpiring for other teams. He is chairperson, liaises with the council, does a huge amount of admin work and also coaches the U14 girls. Jon is a great ambassador for the club and is tireless in his work and enthusiasm.

Mike Woolfrey – Mike is coach of the U16 girls and always goes over and beyond to make sure the team are continuously striving forwards – he’s fantastic!

Nico Jean-Jean – As coach of the U12s, Nico has seemingly tireless energy and commitment to coaching. He is utterly inspiring to the kids and they all respect him. He is firm but fair and gets results. Nico has also helped out, coaching the ladies’ 1s on match days when coach Rhys has been away – what a star.

Rhys Joyce – Encouraging and welcoming, with a desire to make the team the best they can be, Rhys has prioritised coaching the ladies’ 1s through their most difficult season to date, even over his own playing. He has worked tirelessly to support, encourage and grow the ever-changing ladies’ 1s squad who remain very grateful to him.