Review of the 2021-22 Season
Welcome to our first review of the season and report to members since the incorporation of North West Hockey Ltd in June 2021.
Our first AGM was held on 14th July 2021 and marked the start of a new era for hockey in the North West with the bringing together of all our adult leagues, junior competitions, masters, officiating and discipline under one umbrella with a single leadership team. As part of the most significant change to the way hockey is organised and run across England for a generation, we have also worked with the other seven Areas and England Hockey to share best practice and ‘bed in’ the changes set out in the AGM Governance Review set out in
'A structure fit for the future' approved by clubs and members of EH.
At the end of our first full season a huge amount of progress has been made thanks to the hard work of over 50 volunteers working to #MakeHockeyHappen as part of North West Hockey through the work of our four main committees and management structure. We have provided a summary in this review and more news and information about North West Hockey can be found on our new website https://northwest.englandhockey.co.uk/.
Our work sits alongside the tremendous work done in each and every club and in our three Counties (in their new roles) as part of our North West hockey family. We would like to thank all clubs, members, officials, Counties and volunteers across the North West for their for working with our new committees and volunteers to implement the new league and competition structures for adults and juniors, and our new masters and officiating frameworks. With new formats and competitions for juniors and masters more hockey has been delivered for clubs in the North West than ever before and we plan to continue to evolve these opportunities based on club / player demand and interest over coming years.
We are committed to working with, supporting, and engaging with our Clubs and member and as well as our AGM, we have held a Club Umpires Forum in February, Club’s Forum in April, Junior competitions Club’s Forum on 8th June and our first Adult League Presentations and clubs meeting is being held on 21st June. We are planning a mix of in person and on- line forums for the 2022-23 season. Plus, we have our Whistlers Newsletter and new website too.
Looking forward, we have been reviewing our first year of operation and what went well, areas to improve and new ideas and are in the process of developing our 2022-23 plans drawing on input from clubs and members.
Chris Reece, Chair, North West Hockey Ltd
NW O35’s Area Champions
Young Umpire Development
Spring Club Forum
North West Hockey Ltd is a company limited by guarantee registered in England, Company Number 13433627
and Registered Office Bisham Abbey NSC, Marlow Road, Bisham, Marlow, SL7 1RR

Our members
• 89 Clubs
• 3 Counties – Cheshire, Cumbria and
Lancashire Hockey Associations
• Former Life Members from dissolved
Associations
• 9 non-member clubs who play their league
hockey in the NW league
Our Governance Structure
2021-22 Board
2021 – 22 Chairs
Paul Parr was elected at 1st AGM as Governance Director and resigned 18th August 2021
Katherine Wholey was elected at the 1st AGM as Operations Director and resigned 13th April 2022
Sam Ransley was appointed 1st December 2021 following advertising vacancy
Discipline is an appointed role.
Officiating Chair elected by the NW Branch of the EH Officiating (Club)
All other roles elected by Member NW Clubs
2021-22 Summary and Highlights
Adult leagues and competitions
• Committee of 20+ volunteers run our North West Men’s
• and Women’s Leagues
• Committee oversee Fixtures, application of the
Regulations and working with our clubs
• League season fully completed (first time since 2018-
19)
• Bedding in a new league structure and regulations
• Delayed roll out of GMS and impact on limited
functionality and access to system for Div. Secs.
• Building a new committee and new ways of working
• New ways for working for clubs, captains and teams
• Post covid changes in player behaviour / availability
impacting clubs / teams (affecting all Areas)
• 18 Men’s Divisions 20 Women’s Divisions
• 89 Clubs
• 197 Teams (men) 209
Teams (women)
• Former County Women’s
Leagues merged to form
one League
• League Presentations 21st June 2022 at Golborne
2021 – 22 Committee
Chair: Leighan Bleasdale Lge Manager: Peter McInulty Lge Manager: Louise Broome
See details of Divisional Secretaries on page 8.
Looking forward to 2022-23
• Annual league meeting and presentations (21 June)
• 8 Area review of League Regulations including
opportunity to apply any specific NW changes to Regs
• NW league structure review – with club input
• Implementing the 2022-23 calendar and fixtures
• Access to GMS functionality / improvements
North West Hockey Ltd is a company limited by guarantee registered in England, Company Number 13433627
and Registered Office Bisham Abbey NSC, Marlow Road, Bisham, Marlow, SL7 1RR

• Recruit / appoint 2022-23 Committee
• Congratulations to Brooklands MU Men’s 2 and
Liverpool Sefton Women’s 1 promoted the National League
Junior Leagues and Competitions
• Committee of volunteers run our new North West junior programme:
o New Tier 1 U14 / U16 Junior Leagues for Boys and Girls that fed into EH supra- league after Christmas
o NewTier2U14/U16JuniorLeaguesforBoysandGirlsthatleadtoNWFinals o NewNorthWestU10/U12In2HockeyAreaFinals
• Committee oversee Fixtures, application of the Regulations and working with our clubs
• Junior leagues completely ‘new’ for the North West – lots of additional junior hockey
played
• New ‘tiers’ created some challenges matching ability to tiers as it was the first year
• Building a new committee and new ways of working and collaboration with Counties
• Clubs adapting to new junior structure and fixtures
• Interim arrangements for schools and indoor
Looking forward to 2022-23
• 8 Area review of Junior League Regulations & local changes
• NW junior league structure review – with clubs input
• Planning 2022-23 calendar, fixtures, and use of GMS
• Take on running Indoor and Schools competitions
• Recruit / appoint 2022-23 Committee including schools
/ indoor roles
2021-22 Committee
Chair: Bex Stamper
Adele Piddington, Julia Harries, Annie Rogan
Charles Jackman, Suzanne Colclough
T2 Under 14 Area Finals
Masters
• Committee of volunteers run our new NW Masters to deliver:
o NWmastersgathering/training/games
o OrganiseNWrepresentativeteams
o SmallnumberofagegroupsstilljointwithY&NE
• North Masters player survey (Dec 2021) generated over 800 responses – lots of ideas generated on ways to play
• Demand from players (via survey) for new ways to play
• Setting up new structure, ways of working, support roles
etc following split – some challenging booking training
• 12 Men’s and Women’s NW Representative Teams
selected to take part in 2022 Area Tournaments from Over 35’s to Men’s Over 65’s / Women’s Over 55
North West Hockey Ltd is a company limited by guarantee registered in England, Company Number 13433627
and Registered Office Bisham Abbey NSC, Marlow Road, Bisham, Marlow, SL7 1RR

• The four oldest age groups combined with Yorks and NE
• Area Tournament success
• Men’s and Women’s O35 – Champions
• Women’s O50 – Runners Up
• Men’s O55 - Runner Up
Looking forward
• Launched new North West 500 format mixed social masters (June 2022)
• Hosting two Masters Area Tournaments at Timperley
2021-22 Committee
Chair: Tony Taig
Vice Chair: Colin Taylor Vice Chair: Angela Duff
• Over 55 Women (21/22 May) O65 Men (11/12th June)
• Planning 2022-23 calendar, sessions, and ways to play
• Profiling Masters NW population using GMS data
• Looking at New NW Masters competitions /
tournaments
Umpiring and Officiating 2021-22 Committee
Deliver and develop officiating at all levels in the NW
• Umpire Development Lead (Panel Leads)
• Club Liaison Lead (Club Cluster Leads)
• Young Umpire Development Lead (YU Action
Group)
• Appointment Lead (EH Competitions Assistant)
• 30 umpires taking independent appointments
• 8 umpires recruited this season and recently 5
occasional umpires
• 3 umpires have gained their L3 and joined the
NPUA.
• Young Umpire Challenge 2022 – 20 young umpires.
• 1 L1 umpire coach and 1 L1 Assessor success
• Well attended Club Umpires Forum
• Few Club Umpire Developers supporting Club
Umpires most are umpire co-ordinators
• Inexperience of match officials
Chair: Annette Badger
Chris Reece, Graham Morrison, David Alcock, Rhydian
Looking forward
• Closer engagement with Clubs through the Cluster Leads to develop Club umpires and promote occasional appointing
• More Umpire Forums and Zoom presentations to develop umpires
• Junior Leagues and the Player Talent Pathway present new opportunities to develop young umpires
• Increase use of radios
• Develop club match officials for NW Prem and Div 1
Female Update Development at Area Master Tournament (click link
for EH news item)
Discipline
Gareth Jones, Mark Jones, Karen Kaney, Rucky Mahmood, Mandy Pickersgill, Alison Baron, Andrew Sidebotham, Rachel White
Carel van Bentum
North West Hockey Ltd is a company limited by guarantee registered in England, Company Number 13433627
and Registered Office Bisham Abbey NSC, Marlow Road, Bisham, Marlow, SL7 1RR

• All Disciplinary matters now managed through the Area
• New panel of volunteers who manage NW disciplinary
matters, tariffs and appeals
• Conduct towards officiating continues to be of concern
• Working with 8 Areas on discipline
Area Discipline Team
• Area Discipline Administrator : Peter McInulty
• Assistant ADA’s: Robert Cobourne; David Ellcock;
• Darran Illidge; Jon Whiting and Taff Ahmed
Key work of the Board
• North West Hockey Ltd incorporated at Companies House on 2nd June 2021
• Responsible for the overall governance, strategy, finance and Area wide operation and communications
• Priority for 2021-22 to support the work of the committees and setting up of the new ways of working, systems and processes
• Website and social media channels relaunched in early 2021 to build awareness and engagement with NW Hockey
• We have run one face to face Club’s Forum and are reviewing how best to engage with clubs through a combination of Forums, Online events and workshops,
• Work with the Directors across the 8 Areas on each core responsibilities
• Board meetings have been held monthly and the Board and Committee Chairs form the Management Committee that also meets monthly.
• The Board run two workshop sessions to start work to develop a longer term 3 – 5 year strategy for NW Hockey strategy. This will be shared with members and the aim is to guide our work, prioritise allocation and use of resource and guide our annual operational plans.
• Our high level strategic themes will provide a framework across all of our activities plan our work and working alongside and with clubs and counties to meet the current and future needs of the our sport.
• The NWH Strategy will be aligned to the EH Strategy for the sport once this is available and finalised at this time.
• We are also reviewing the new EH Equality Diversity and
Inclusion Framework (2022-2024) and the actions we need to put in place in the North West and our ED & I actions.
Developing our Strategic Framework
Working with Clubs
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Three high level strategic themes have been identified:
How we promote hockey in the North West
How we develop hockey in the North West
How we support the growth of hockey in the North West
Our Finances
• Report to the Directors and Unaudited Finance Statement for the period 2nd June 2021 to 30th April 2022 has been approved by the Board and will be shared at the AGM. This forms part of our statutory reporting to Companies House.
Headline financials
• Operating Income £38,653
• Operating Expenditure £7,106
North West Hockey Ltd is a company limited by guarantee registered in England, Company Number 13433627
and Registered Office Bisham Abbey NSC, Marlow Road, Bisham, Marlow, SL7 1RR

• Operating income for 2021-22 was generated through: Area Membership Fees, League and Competition Entry Fees and fees to clubs for Umpires
• £109k of legacy funds transferred from a range of (dissolved) organisations and Grant Funds linked to the North West and these have in the main been ring fenced to support and fund future development initiatives that will aligned to our Strategy and Plans once approved.
• Cost of activity (pitch hire appointments)
£10,505
Working with the wider hockey family
The NW team are part of a new 8 Area network set up to follow through the principles and implementation the governance review set out in 'A structure fit for the future'
An important part of our role is to work and collaborate with the other new Areas in a range of working groups and on a national committee (Area Standing Committee) to share learning and best practice and agree the core guidance, policies, and principles to support the new structure. This work ensures that the North West feed into proposed initiatives, changes and a range of activities and have a voice.
Chris Reece is also a member elected Vice President of England Hockey
Shelagh Everett is a Member Elected Non- Executive Director of England Hockey.
Congratulations to our league and competition winners
North West Hockey League
League presentations will be made on 21st June at 19:30 at Golborne Sports Club when trophies will be presented.
Men’s Division
Men's Premier Men's Division Men's Division Men's Division Men's Division Men's Division Men's Division Men's Division Men's Division
Division Champions 2021-2022 1 Champions 2021-2022
2 Champions 2021-2022
3 North Champions 2021-2022 3 South Champions 2021-2022 4 East Champions 2021-2022
4 North Champions 2021-2022 4 West Champions 2021-2022 5 East Champions 2021-2022
Winner
Brooklands Manchester Uni 2 Timperley 2
Neston 2
Clitheroe Blackburn Northern 1 Buxton 1
Rochdale 1
Preston 4
Chester 3
South Manchester 1
North West Hockey Ltd is a company limited by guarantee registered in England, Company Number 13433627
and Registered Office Bisham Abbey NSC, Marlow Road, Bisham, Marlow, SL7 1RR

Men's Division 5 North Champions 2021-2022
Men's Division 5 South (Central) Champions 2021-2022 Men's Division 5 West (North) Champions 2021-2022 Men's Division 5 West (South) Champions 2021-2022 Men's Division 6 East Champions 2021-2022
Men's Division 6 South (Central) Champions 2021-2022 Men's Division 6 West (South) Champions 2021-2022 Men's Division 7 East Champions 2021-2022
Men's Division 7 South (Central) Champions 2021-2022 Women’s Divisions
Women's Premier Division Champions 2021-2022 Women's Division 1 Champions 2021-2022
Women's Division 2 North Champions 2021-2022 Women's Division 2 South Champions 2021-2022 Women's Division 3 East Champions 2021-2022
Women's Division 3 North Champions 2021-2022 Women's Division 3 North (Central) Champions 2021-2022 Women's Division 3 West Champions 2021-2022
Women's Division 4 East Champions 2021-2022
Women's Division 4 North (Central) Champions 2021-2022 Women's Division 4 South (Central) Champions 2021-2022 Women's Division 4 West Champions 2021-2022
Women's Division 5 East Champions 2021-2022
Women's Division 5 North (Central) Champions 2021-2022 Women's Division 5 South (Central) Champions 2021-2022 Women's Division 5 West (North) Champions 2021-2022 Women's Division 5 West (South) Champions 2021-2022 Women's Division 6 East Champions 2021-2022
Women's Division 6 South (Central) Champions 2021-2022 Women's Division 7 East (Central) Champions 2021-2022
North West Junior Competitions
Clitheroe Blackburn Northern 2 Knutsford 1
Runcorn 1
Northop Hall 1
Bowdon 5
Winnington Park 2 Wrexham Glyndwr 1 Leigh Manchester 2 Alderley Edge 7 Winners
Liverpool Sefton 1 University of Liverpool 1 Lancaster University 1 Bolton 1
Didsbury Northern 3 Keswick 2
Chorley Phoenix 1 Northop Hall 1
Wigan 1
Preston 2
Deeside Ramblers 2 University of Liverpool 2 Manchester Manto 1 Chorley Phoenix 2 Triton 1
Mossley Hill 3
Northop Hall 2
Bowdon 6 Macclesfield 3 Timperley 6
Boys Girls
North West Hockey Ltd is a company limited by guarantee registered in England, Company Number 13433627
and Registered Office Bisham Abbey NSC, Marlow Road, Bisham, Marlow, SL7 1RR

Under 16 Tier 2 Under 14 Tier 2
U12 NW In2Hockey U10 NW In2Hockey
Timperley Neston Alderley Edge Chester
Under 16 Tier 2
Under 14 Tier 2
U12 EH In2Hockey
U10 NW In2Hockey Alderley Edge
Kirkby Stephen Chester Deeside
Tier 1 Under 14 and 16 teams went on to play in the EH junior Supra competition.
Adult Leagues and Competitions Committee – 2021-22
Committee Position
Area League & GMS Manager
Grade
Name
Adult Leagues & Competitions Chair
N/A
Leighan Bleasdale
N/A
Peter McInulty
Area League Manager (Assistant)
N/A
Louise Broome
Divisional Secretary
Grade
Name
North West Men's Premier
2
Rob Cobourne
North West Men's Division 1
2
Rob Cobourne
North West Men's Division 2
3
Sam Sheikh
North West Men's Division 3 North
3
Sam Sheikh
North West Men's Division 3 South
3
Martin McInulty
North West Men's Division 4 North
4
Simon Farrell
North West Men's Division 5 North
4
Simon Farrell
North West Men's Division 4 West
4
Ian Swaine
North West Men's Division 5 West (South)
4
Simon Worsley
North West Men's Division 5 West (North)
4
Ian Swaine
North West Men's Division 6 West (South)
5
Simon Worsley
North West Men's Division 4 East
4
Martin McInulty
North West Men's Division 5 South (Central)
4
Max Bartholomew
North West Men's Division 6 South (Central)
5
Max Bartholomew
North West Men's Division 7 South (Central)
5
Derek Tebbutt
North West Men's Division 5 East
North West Men's Division 6 East
4
Rob Jepson
5
Rob Jepson
North West Men's Division 7 East
5
Derek Tebbutt
North West Hockey Ltd is a company limited by guarantee registered in England, Company Number 13433627
and Registered Office Bisham Abbey NSC, Marlow Road, Bisham, Marlow, SL7 1RR

Divisional Secretary
Grade
Name
North West Women's Premier
2
Laura Blunt
North West Women's Division 1
2
Laura Blunt
North West Women's Division 2 North
3
Clare Thompson
North West Women's Division 2 South
3
Clare Thompson
North West Women's Division 3 North
5
Marion Roberts
North West Women's Division 3 North (Central)
4
Victoria Bennion
North West Women's Division 3 West
4
Artie Senior
North West Women's Division 3 East
4
Artie Senior
North West Women's Division 4 North (Central)
4
Victoria Bennion
North West Women's Division 4 West
4
Artie Senior
North West Women's Division 4 South (Central)
4
Amy Robinson
North West Women's Division 4 East
4
Lisa Williams
North West Women's Division 5 North (Central)
5
Marion Roberts
North West Women's Division 5 West South
5
Ellie Purnell
North West Women's Division 5 West North
5
Ellie Purnell
North West Women's Division 5 South (Central)
4
Amy Robinson
North West Women's Division 5 East
4
Lisa Williams
North West Women's Division 6 South (Central)
5
Jo Nicholson
North West Women's Division 6 East
5
Jo Nicholson
North West Women's Division 7 East (Central)
5
Louise Broome
Thank you from North West Hockey and the whole of our hockey family to all North West Hockey Volunteers and those working in Clubs, Counties and across the sport.
Join us online for the 2nd AGM of North West Hockey Ltd on Thursday 7th July 2022 at 19:30.
We welcome questions in advance please send to chair@northwesthockey.co.uk or subject to time there will be the opportunity to ask questions at the AGM on the Review of 2021-22 and the work of North West Hockey Ltd.
North West Hockey Ltd is a company limited by guarantee registered in England, Company Number 13433627
and Registered Office Bisham Abbey NSC, Marlow Road, Bisham, Marlow, SL7 1RR