Wapping Kidds needs you
Since you’re all missing hockey Saturdays, now is the perfect time to get involved with Kidds! At JO every Friday evening (6:00-7:30pm) and Saturday morning (9:30-11:00am) we are blessed with the most incredible juniors who absolutely love hockey and are now holding their own against some of the most established clubs in London.
The sessions are run by our fabulous lead coaches but we need some extra helpers to make the most of the junior’s potential.
Who do we need?
On Friday nights, our senior school group have skills that would challenge most adults at the club and having a few technically sharp players executing drills, focusing attention and challenging players works really well. So if you’ve got some skills, can set an example for how to play and train, and would like to inspire the next generation, this session’s for you.
On Saturday mornings our junior school children love hockey but also love a chat. At these sessions having a few helpers with a good sense of humour assisting with focus and explaining techniques and drills in a warm and encouraging way is vital. So if you like hockey based fun and excellent chat, this session’s for you.
At our summer camps (over the summer holiday) we offer paid opportunities for coaches and coaching assistants, paying £20/h for assistant coaches and £40/h for lead coaches (Level 2 qualification or equivalent).
The broad plan, which is still subject to approval, will be to run the camps over from 29 July to 15 August, Monday-Thursday, 9-12. They'll be split into camps for the more experienced players and taster/try out sessions, so hopefully both safer and more fun to run.
At this stage, we are just trying to gauge interest. Please do pass this information on to anyone else who you think may be interested. We would prefer some coaching experience, and all coaches will need an up to date England Hockey DBS check, but we can get that done ahead of the sessions if needed.
If you’re interested in any of the above, please reach out to Sandy (wappingkidds@gmail.com), who’ll pop you on the Kidds coaches WhatsApp group, sort your DBS, and get you involved at a session soon.
How else can I help?
We’re looking to recruit more juniors, especially girls, so anything you can do to spread the word about our Kidds’ sessions in local community/school/parent groups would really help.
We have two flyers which can be downloaded and shared via WhatsApp or email. The general ‘Kidds’ flyer is here and the Kidds’ ‘goalkeeping taster sessions’ flyer is here.
More old guys needed
We’ve got a cracking line up of Wapping legends for the 23rd June LV 10th anniversary game but could do with a few more men, so if you played for Wapping in 2014 and your back/knees/spouse allows you some sort of movement please complete this form and join in the fun. Please note that anyone can attend the event but you will need to have played at Wapping in 2014 to be eligible for the game.
We’re also in need of an umpire for this too.
Dates for your Diary
16/06: Men’s Saturday Social League commences
23/06: LV 10 Year Anniversary ‘team of 2014’ game (sign up here)
06/07: Kidds’ End of Season @ Wapping Tavern (12:00-14:00pm)
w/c 29/07: Performance teams pre-season training begins
w/c 12/08: Pre-season training for all teams
11/08: Trials/open session (coach facilitated sessions for current and prospective players)
17/08: Back2Hockey Tournament @ LV
17/08, 24/08: Pre-season games (provisional)
31/08: Club Day (11am-6pm @ LV followed by social)
07/09, 14/09: Pre-season games (provisional)
21/09: First league games for all (WEHL conference and London League)
REMINDER: Umpire and coaching Opportunities
umpire Development
Thanks to our three Umpire Development Officers (UDOs) we have a fab summer development program to help new umpires get started and existing umpires up-skill. If you’ve thought about trying umpiring now is the time to give it a go as Wapping will not only pay for your umpire course but also arrange two practice games with experienced (and very lovely) UDOs, assisted by our brand new radio sets to ensure you’re fully supported. It’s a fantastic opportunity so please reach out to VCC, Alex Corrie (wappingvcc@gmail.com), if interested.
Get into coaching
As well as our umpiring program, we have a summer development program for anyone keen to get into coaching.
Reach out to VCP, Lizzie, or Kidds’ Chair, Amy, to find out how to get started and the resources available (including our excellent Head Coach, Matt).
Member discounts:
Check out our Members' area (Password: whc1989) which has all of our available offers, including:
20% off NuSmile dentists
A free Psycle session
Grubby: 50% off + free delivery on 1st box, plus 30% off for the rest of the month
2 weeks free trial of El Tab app giving members 4 free drinks in London nightly
20% off Sharp Movement
10% off all beers at Tap East
