Changes to Men's 4s and 5s teams

The Men's section has fewer active players this season than last and therefore the Men's Club Captain (Sam Dawson), Club Development Officer (Paul Boon) and the committee have decided to make some major changes to our Men's 4s and Men's 5s for this season. In short we will fold the Men's 4s and turn the Men's 5s into a Development Team. These changes have been agreed with the League this week.

Why are we changing things?

This season, several players have left for university and several have left for opportunities to play at a higher level elsewhere - particularly from our top team. As a result many of our remaining players have been pushed up into higher teams this season.

In our lower teams this has had a major impact:

• we have not had enough players to put out a Men's 5s team and matches have had to be cancelled
• players who would have normally been in our Men's 5s this season - including many juniors playing adult hockey for the first time - have found themselves in the Men's 4s, playing in the same league as our Men's 3s. The Men's 4s have been out-classed against quality adult teams and been soundly beaten, giving our junior players a very negative experience of adult hockey.

What's going to change?

We take pride in developing our juniors and helping them grow their skills and advance through the adult teams at a pace that suits them - but the current situation will not enable this. Therefore we have agreed with the NW League to:

• withdraw our Men's 4s from the league and fold that team
• convert our Men's 5s team into a "Development Team" playing in the lower league. (A development team plays on a friendly basis and is intended to allow start-up teams and juniors (from age 12) to "learn the ropes". Senior players may take part to help develop the teams and players can even be borrowed from the opposition.)

What does it mean for me?

• Everyone will still get a game - but at a level more appropriate to their skills and experience
• Our juniors should have a much more positive experience of adult hockey
• The Men's 5s will be re-named "Development" in Teamo
• Everyone in the Men's 4s squad in Teamo will be re-assigned to either the Men's 3s or Development squad in Teamo. Men's 4s fixtures will be removed from Teamo

We are confident these changes will give the players in our lower Men's teams a much better playing experience and will encourage and grow the skills of our juniors further. We will continue to monitor the situation and welcome your feedback and suggestions.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Sam or Paul in the first Instance.

Extract from NWHL Adult Regulations (relating to Development Teams)

7.2 Age

7.2.1 Grade 5 matches involving development teams may be treated as not being League matches ..... In such matches a player may participate if they are 12 or above with the agreement of their parent/guardian and if the participating club can ensure that the player has the physical development and confidence to participate safely.

7.2.2 For all other matches, a player must be aged 13 or above on the day of the match.