East Youth Competitions – held at the Novotel Hotel Stansted on 21st September, 2017.

Present –S. Tippen Chair, F. Wheeler Secretary, R. Gotobed Essex D. Menear Essex, A. May Herts, F. Dalton Lincs, A. Glover Norfolkand M. Dudley Suffolk

Apologies were received from- H. Gilbert, Beds, Roger Barrett Herts, D. Charles Umpires andM. Williams Performance.

1)The Minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed.

The Minutes were then signed.

2) Matters Arising. A contact list for umpires who are available is needed as the

East is unable to provide umpires for all the competitions. It was suggested that

the East might be able to pay a fee for umpires whilst the competition entries

would pay travel and refreshment expenses where appropriate. This idea to be

put forward to the East Management.

The problem of the disparity between the counties who could afford to help

their entries to competitions and those who were unable to do so was again

raised. Lincs had been unable to provide teams for somecompetitions as the

schools involved did not always have enough money tocome.

3) Correspondence. Nick Bentley from Hertford Hockey Club had again

expressed disappointment that the venue for the In2Hockey Club competitions

was Harleston Magpies. He is to be advised by the secretary that this venue is

more suitable than other venues mentioned as it had all the facilities required

whereas the other venues were not so fortunate.

Jacqui Hudson from Sevenoaks Club was hoping that we could have 2 teams

from Kent in the Club Indoor. However, this is not possible unless all clubs

were to be offered the same although there might be a possibility if a team

withdrew nearer the time.

Julian Pagliaro is taking his U14 girls team away on the week-end of April 15th

when Bedford is hosting one of the U14 girls festival. It is hoped than one of

the other participants will take over hosting the remaining teams. Herts is

investigating this.

Graham Bell had again asked if East would like to join in an U13 girls and boys

2 day Regional Tournament, which was an 11 a-side competition in June and

July. The invitation was declined as it was felt it did not fit in with the Player

pathway.

The Performance Hand book had been sent out. This has caused some

disquiet as it seems to infer that the Goalkeepers were not going to be

coached but were there just to be in goal for the field players. This point to be

put forward to Martin Williams on his return

4) East Management and England Hockey.

There had been no East meeting on which to report. However an emergency

meeting had been held to discuss the restructure of the EHL as a result of the

introduction of a Pro League for international teams that England have entered.

Sally Tippen will be attending the Player Pathway meeting on October 4th on

behalf of East.

Changes to the data protection laws in May 2018 may affect how we store data

on children. Advice from EH is required to be sent to hockey organisations in

good time on how to deal with the implications.

5) Competitions.

The staffing for the Girls’ schools and Indoor is being arranged. D. Menear is

going to send out requests for help.

Academy programme

There was a discussion about what to do with the players who came back

from Performance after September 30th.

The new system has caused the expected increase in pitch requirements.

A programme had been worked out based on the numbers of teams that each

county was going to put forward. The venues and participants for each one had

been sent out with the request that each county booked the venues that they had

been given. These were to be sent in so that any difficulties that had arisen

could be highlighted and changes made. There were also changes to the

numbers of teams involved. Unfortunately, the necessity for double pitch

venueshas led to a scarcity of these and many programmes need to be altered.

The U15s and U16/17s are League programmes whilst the lower age groups

had 2 festivals and a single finals day. The U13s would be playing 7 a-side.

The programmes for the festivals would be given to the counties when numbers

of teams had been confirmed.

The scores of the league would be sent by a volunteer to F. Wheeler to collate

to send to T. Williams.

Beds No report

Cambs Girls schools competitions going ahead. AC has head coaches in

place but finding difficulty with assistant coaches. Wanting to send coaches on

L2 courses but few available.

Essex – sent out a Player Pathway document to all schools and clubs but

communication difficulties meant that not everyone received it.

Herts– held summer camps but numbers lower than previously

Kent – no report

Lincs– showing a pleasing increase in numbers. Asked about AC logo and

whether an embroidery disc could be sent to all counties.

Norfolk–held an AC Performance camp for those who just missed out on

Performance selection. Also held a Ministicks camp for for development.

Suffolk– Schools asking County for help with coaching

Dates for the meetings: Tuesday November 21st 2017, February 27th 2018 and

May 1st 2018.

The meeting closed at 9.50pm.