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Bishop's Stortford Hockey Club

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Bishop's Stortford Hockey Club
Nickname(s)BSHC
LeagueMen's England Hockey League
Women's England Hockey League
Home groundHerts and Essex Sports Centre, Beldams Lane
Personnel
ChairmanDuncan Barber
Websitewww.stortfordhockey.co.uk
Home kit: blue-white shirt, white shorts, red socks
Home

Bishop's Stortford Hockey Club is a field hockey club in the town of Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England. The club plays in the East Region Hockey Association.[1] The home ground is located at The Hertfordshire and Essex High School,[2] where both the clubhouse and pitch are located.[3]

The club has 800 active members and fields a total of sixteen senior sides, seven men's and nine ladies' playing in the East Hockey Leagues.[4] The Men's 1st XI play in the East Men's Premier Division and the Ladies 1st XI play in the East Women's Premier Division.[5]

Bishop’s Stortford Hockey Club has been reaccredited for another 3 years (2022-2025) as a ClubMark club (Sport England), making the club one of a select number across England to achieve the England Hockey ClubMark status.[6][7]

Bishop's Stortford Hockey Club pitch

History

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The club formed in 1948[8] and games were played at Cricket Field Lane, Hockerill Anglo-European College and Sawbridgeworth. The club barely raised a team in the early days, players relied on getting to away fixtures by train and taxi due to the lack of motorcars after World War II. In 1969 the club was elected to the Hertfordshire County League[9] and the East Central League in 1972. Promotion to the East Region Hockey Association was gained in 1975.

The club had a number of successes over the years including County Champions in 1974, 1981 and 1986, East runners-up in 1982 and H.A. Cup quarter finalists in 1982 and 1986. Later successes include the integration of the Ladies Hockey Club and partnership in 1993 with Hockerill Anglo-European College.[10]

In 2019 Bishop’s Stortford Hockey Club moved from Cricket Field Lane to The Hertfordshire and Essex High School, where a state of the art pitch and clubhouse overlooking the pitch with floor to ceiling windows and a balcony was built.[3] The project has been a collaborative one, with funding coming from a variety of bodies and institutions including the Department for Education, Hertfordshire County Council, East Herts District Council, Sport England, Bishop's Stortford Judo Club, Bishop's Stortford Hockey Club as well as staff, students, parents, friends and families.

Senior Section

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The Ladies 1st XI had back to back promotions starting from 2019, where they become champions of both the East League Division 1 South and a year later champions in the East Premier Division. This saw the Ladies 1st XI for the first time in club history play in the Vitality Women's Conference East league.[4]

In the 2022-23 season, the Men's 1st XI achieved a significant milestone by securing promotion from East League Division 1 South to the prestigious East Men's Premier Division for the 2023-24 season. This remarkable accomplishment reflects the team's hard work, skill, and determination, positioning them among the elite clubs in the region.[11]

Junior Section

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The clubs junior hockey caters for children from ages 5 to 18 and provides an opportunity to the local schools in the area, where hockey is not a mainstay of the PE or extra-curricular offer.[12] The club also offers to other groups such as a new initiative in partnership with Grove Cottage[13] to offer disability hockey.

Overall the club has developed a thriving junior section with over 500 members and runs hockey camps throughout the year, such as hockey training programmes with EVO Hockey.[14]

The junior section recently linked up with investment services group Ravenscroft,[15] who'll be known as the “Ravens”. The sponsorship will help provide several hockey programmes for children aged from 5 to 16 in the local community. The sponsorship of the Bishop’s Stortford Ravens aims to encourage young players to learn and develop their hockey and team skills through sessions organised in club and community environments, as well as local schools such as The Hertfordshire and Essex High School, Hockerill Anglo-European College, Northgate Primary, Windhill Primary and Fawbert & Barnard Infant’s Primary.[16]

Olympic Legacy

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The 2012 London Olympic brought an increased visibility to Field hockey, where 630,000 people watched live hockey during the event, a pattern of continued growth in the sport has emerged[17] and Bishop’s Stortford Hockey Club used this opportuning to attract new and returning players to their Vitality Back to Hockey programme in partnership with England Hockey.[18]

Honours

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Men

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  • East Division 1 South Champions 2022-23
  • East Premier B Champions 2006-07
  • East Premier A Runners-up 2002-03
  • East Premier A Runners-up 2000-01

Women

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  • East Premier Division Champions 2021-22[19][20]
  • East League Division 1 South Champions 2019-20
  • East League Division 2 SW Champions 2016-17
  • East League Division 2 SW Champions 2009-10

Junior

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  • U16 Girls Tier 2 National Cup Runners-up 2022-23

Notable Players

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The club has a number of current and former international players still involved with coaching or playing at Bishop's Stortford Hockey Club. In addition a number of senior members still represent their country at Masters level.[21][22]

Internationals

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 England
 Scotland
 United States

References

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  1. ^ "BISHOPS STORTFORD - 2020/21 - East Regional Hockey Leagues". hockey-east.co.uk. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  2. ^ "History of the School". www.hertsandessex.herts.sch.uk. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  3. ^ a b "New Herts and Essex High School sports complex will be pitch perfect for hockey club". Bishop's Stortford Independent. 3 August 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  4. ^ a b "East Hockey Home". east.englandhockey.co.uk. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Competitions | East Hockey". east.englandhockey.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  6. ^ "BSHC Clubmark certificate". Stortford Hockey. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  7. ^ "Sport England Club Matters". www.sportenglandclubmatters.com. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Bishop's Stortford Hockey Club Welcomes New Members". Herts and Essex Observer. 23 September 1949. p. 7.
  9. ^ "Clubs". hertfordshirehockey.pitchero.com. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  10. ^ "History". Bishop's Stortford Hockey Club. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Lucky 13 for Stortford as big win secures promotion to Premier". Bishop's Stortford Independent. 21 March 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  12. ^ "Hockey club focus: Bishop's Stortford catches community path with free coaching sessions for primary schools". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  13. ^ gc_admin. "Mencap". Grove Cottage. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  14. ^ "EVO partners with Bishop's Stortford Hockey Club". EVO Hockey. Retrieved 15 September 2022.
  15. ^ "Hockey club's junior section to fly as Ravens after securing sponsorship deal". Bishop's Stortford Independent. 17 March 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  16. ^ "Bishop's Stortford Hockey Club Juniors | Ravenscroft". www.ravenscroftgroup.com. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  17. ^ "Hockey back in London and discovers remarkable Olympic legacy | FIH". www.fih.ch. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
  18. ^ "Bishop's Stortford HC Capitalise on Olympics Interest with Vitality Back to Hockey". www.englandhockey.co.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  19. ^ "Area Premier Divisions: Review Of The Season To Date". www.englandhockey.co.uk. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  20. ^ Ball, Lucas (20 September 2021). "Regional clubs all set for new life in England Hockey restructure". The Hockey Paper. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  21. ^ "Masters". Bishop's Stortford Hockey Club. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  22. ^ "Masters: Altiusrt". masters.altiusrt.com. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  23. ^ a b "Leonard and Bull play part in Four Nations triumphs for England Masters". Bishop's Stortford Independent. 30 June 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  24. ^ "Scotland men's masters squads announced for Celtic Cup". Scottish Hockey. 23 August 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  25. ^ "News for 21 April 2018". www.fieldhockey.com. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  26. ^ "Smith, Craig – World Masters Hockey". Retrieved 10 January 2023.
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