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22/03/2011
Airedale's most successful team. No, I'm not talking about the (recently) all conquering ladies team, or even the brave and heroic men's firsts who may well stave off relegation yet. It's the young 'uns who are leading the way. Our special correspondent, Stuart Blake, takes up the story....
Yorkshire has a thriving Under 12s and Under 10s scene: every month throughout the season, some 20-25 teams from across Yorkshire meet up for each of the U12s and U10s competitions, and play in a league with 4 divisions. 6 a side, across the pitch, top 2 in each division go up, bottom two go down. The team that wins the final round of the season in Division 1 is then crowned the Yorkshire champion.
You may remember that this time last year our Airedale Under 10s team won.
This year, that same team are of course playing in the Under 12s; oddly, we only have one 11-year old playing with us - all the rest are aged 10 (and a couple of 9-year-olds who play in both U12s and U10s). We have high hopes of winning the U12s next year with that same team, but we have not been holding out much hope for them this year, as they are all visibly smaller on the pitch. So, throughout the year, with some absences, we've been yo-yo-ing between 3rd and 2nd division. Back in January we managed to climb from the 2nd division into the 1st, so on Sunday our U12s team gathered at Weetwood with some trepidation: how would we get on in the 1st division? Well, we played Ben Rhydding B and we beat them. We played Bradford and we beat them. We played York (who have been in the 1st division throughout the year, consistently coming in second to Ben Rhydding A) and we beat them. Then Ben Rhydding A drew against Bradford, who we had beaten. Suddenly, it got very interesting: if we held Ben Rhydding to a draw and we won our last match against Leeds (which we knew was possible), we would win the U12s tournament! Ben Rhydding A then came at us all guns blazing, Alex was taken out by a Matthew "pass" which hit him hard on the knee, and we didn't quite manage it: we lost heavily to them. But we went on to win against Leeds, so our 9-and-10-year-olds came in second in the Yorkshire U12s competition.
So, well done Connor, Robbie, Ciara, Waseem, Toby, Harry, Edward, Matthew, Alex and Oscar. And a big hand to coach Phil Ramshaw. And also, the long-suffering chauffeur/parents, take a bow. And watch out next year, Yorkshire!
And it's still not over yet: the Under 12s have got through the first round (top 2 teams in West Yorkshire) of the National Under 12s tournament. In the next round, on 3rd April, the top 2 teams in all of Yorkshire go through - so on paper, we should make it: the age limit for this tournament is 9 months younger (1st January cut-off date, not 1st September), so most clubs "lose" several of their players whereas we don't lose any of ours. After that, who knows!
Airedale Hockey club operate a thriving and growing junior section and welcome new members of any ability. The emphasis is on FUN and enjoyment.
Boys and Girls aged 5 to 15 (parents are expected to stay with younger players)
Training starts at 6pm on Thursday Evenings for one hour – as a general rule of thumb we run the junior section throughout school term time – Sept – July
In the past we have had junior players go on to represent – West Yorkshire – Yorkshire and the North East
We currently run three junior teams in the Yorkshire Youth Leagues that each plays one Sunday per month at a league tournament in either Halifax or Pocklington (near York)
Our under 10 boys’ tigers team play in division 4 and are showing some big improvements
Our under 10 boys’ dragons team play in division 1 and won the last tournament
The Boys under 12 team have just been promoted to division 2
In addition to the YYHL we also have attended youth festivals and hold an annual club fun day for all.
Coaching is provided in the main by qualified volunteers (one level 3, one level 2 and two level 1 coaches).
Many of our young players have gone on to play for the clubs senior teams.
We can loan sticks and balls to new players if you want to have a go.
Adult volunteers are also very welcome
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