Fitness Starts Tuesday 22nd July 7:30pm

We have again secured the services of James Buttefill to take pre season fitness. James has been training our own Rob Key and Kent Cricket team for the season, results of which are clear to see. Training will take place at Foxgrove Road at 7:30pm. All male/female members and new joiners are welcome.

Boys win Kent U16 final.

By Simon Black (Assistant Coach Boys U15 / U16)

Boys win Kent U16 Final

History was made as two Bromley & Beckenham teams contested the Kent U16 Boys Final held at Canterbury HC. So winners and runners up to us.

Having entered an U15 and U16 side into the U16 league at the start of the season both sides had found themselves in second place in their respective tables towards the end of the season and thus ultimately arriving at the final day game. Both faced tricky semi-finals.

The U15 boys took on a physically strong U16 Gore Court team first up and despite going a goal down stuck to their task. Gaining in strength they begun to more than match their opposition and an equaliser came. Tension mounted and then in the dying minutes a short corner to us, superbly despatched and a 2-1 win gained.

The U16 side were next up and despite missing 8 players, due to impending GCSE exams, confidentially took on an also slightly weaker than normal Sutton Valance side. The boys took control of the game early and played some open and expansive hockey coming through as well deserved 5-1 winners. All set then for the Bromley & Beckenham show down.

The final was competitively and skilfully played with the almost full strength U15's eventually coming from behind in a very close game against their weakened U16 colleagues to just shade it by 3 goals to 2. Perhaps more important than the actual result was the fact that we as a club had two teams in the final and with 30 of our boys showing the rest of the county just how well they can play hockey. A fantastic achievement.

Well done therefore to all the boys that played today and indeed throughout the season. Also a great thank you to the coaches, our umpires and the many supporters who have got behind the various teams we've run this year. Finally though, a special thank you must go to the 'Leader of the Pack' the one and only Neil Berry for organising practically everything.

Please Support the Ladies 1's in their final this Sunday

Please make every effort to support the Ladies 1's this Sunday.
===================================================================== From Nigel Walshe - Ladies 1st Team Coach.

The Ladies first team play in the Kent Plate final this Sunday (18th May) at Canterbury H.C. (Polo Farm) at 10.00.

The squad have worked extremely hard throughout the season, and we hope to finish the season off by winning the Final on Sunday.

Many of you have stood on the sidelines at Langley Park on a Saturday, showing your support, and this has often proved to be invaluable, having supporters at games always provides extra motivation to players on the pitch, which is why it would be greatly appreciated if as many of you as possible could make the trip to Canterbury on Sunday to support the Ladies for the final time this season.

The Final starts at 10:00, which I know is an early start, but I’m sure there will be breakfast at the clubhouse!

On a personal note – I would like to thank all of you who have come to support throughout the season, it has been great to see supporters creating an atmosphere at games. So thank you for that, and hopefully we’ll see as many of you as possible on Sunday


Cheers
Nigel

Congrats to Boys U15.

Congratulations to the Boys U15 who last weekend won the U15 EH National Plate Final. A great achievement for all the boys and for Simon Black & Neil Berry.

===============================================================

By Simon Black (Assistant Coach - Boys U15/16)

Congratulations to the 16 boys who together lifted the Boys U15 HA National Plate by beating Cannock, one of the country's leading clubs, by 6 goals to 2.

A fantastic win and one of the best performances by a team of this age, with pace, passion, gritty defending and brilliantly taken goals. The result was even more special given both the high standard of the opposition and the extremely hot and sunny conditions.

Played at Guildford HC in front of a large and noisy crowd, the Brombeck boys sought to take control from the very start, moving the ball confidently around the back, holding the middle of the pitch and making insisive attacks down both flanks.

When the ball was lost they closed the opposition down and tackled with skill and aggression. Despite an early lead being pegged back the solid defence, an increasingly expansive midfield
and our lively forward line turned up the pressure and by half time we had built a 3-1 advantage.

The game was not yet won and from somewhere our Brombeck boys found even more energy, enthusiasm and running for the second half. They soaked up some spirited play by the Cannock lads, rewarding their efforts by taking the ball off them, dominating play for a sustained period and then crashing two further goals passed their goal keeper to make it 5-1. A further goal apiece, the game was over and the plate was ours.

It should also be recorded how well the whole squad represented the club so fantastically both
on and off the field. Their behaviour and attitude to a serious competition showed in not only the final performance but also those along the way where they dealt with an excessively physical Dunmow side, a solid Surbiton team and even a weekend trip north to beat the Manchester based Timperley club in the semi-final. Boys you did a great job.

A thank you should also go to all the parents, friends and family who have given the team such great support, not only at the final but at all the other games played this season. It has really helped and as those who have watched will have noted, this team can really play some wonderful hockey.

The winning squad was: James Regester (GK), Mark Philpot (GK), Harry Black, Simon Firth, Crispen Kenney, Jamie Hemingway, Andrew Dalman, Tunc Ilgin, Thomas Berry, Cian Sutcliffe, Jonathon Mayes, Guy Hughes, Andrew Ram, Chris Harden, Nicholas Rao & Joe Huggett.

Support the Mens 1's this Sunday (6th April) in a crucial game.

The Mens 1st XI have not had the most inspiring of seasons, and we are in danger of losing our National League status. We now require one point from the last game of the season which is away at Cambridge University at 14:00.

Can you help by coming along to support your club. I know that many of the second and third team have added their support in the last few weeks by helping out at training - but now it comes down to a single game. For those of you who think this is not a big deal - please rest assured that it is significantly harder to regain a national league place than to retain it.

So please could you find a spare few hours this Sunday to help out your club. Billy, Buds and Michael will be organising numbers and some cars (for those who may need a lift). A group will be meeting at Foxgrove Road at 11.30 to make the Journey up there, so if you want to join them then please contact one of those 3 (contact details below) so that they know numbers. I am sure there will be a pint or two back at Foxgrove road when we have achieved our aim.

Just to put this into context, the strength of the club comes from having National League status - this draws players in, and allows all the sides in the club to be competitive. If you look at the results for the 2s and 3s this season, you will see that they are comptiting for the top 4 places. This is a direct result of being a national league club. If you want to win more games that you lose - then we HAVE to retain that status. This is crucial to us as a club.

I hope to see you at the game.

====================================================================

MICHAEL BLUETT 07768 -311974 michael_bluett@hotmail.co.uk
NICK BUDDELL 07725 - 036686
JASON BILIMORIA 07866 - 437371

===================================================================

There will be a group meeting at Foxgrove

Ladies 1's - Please support on Saturday (15th)

The Ladies 1st XI are playing their last home game for this season on Saturday (15th).
It is a very important game in their battle to stay in the East Premier League.

It is a 14.30 pushback at Langley Park against Ipswich 2's.

Please support them in their efforts for safety.

Their Final Game of the season is on 29th March vs Sudbury [Away - 14:30]

Kent U14's win South Championship

Kent Under 14's clinched victory in the South Boys County Championship recently, with an unbeaten run, having won all seven of their games, ending up with a plus 18 goal difference.

Congratulations to Kent and especially the following 6 BromBeck boys who featured strongly in the sqaud:

Rob Farrington, Tom Martin (GK), Chris Barnett, Bobby Harris, Jamie Brooker & Ben Painting

Congratulations to the Mens 7th XI.

Well done the Mens 7th XI who last Saturday (8th) wrapped up the Kent Open League 3 with still one game to go.

Congratulations go to all the players and especially to Chris Harris (the Captain) for all his
hard work week in week out.

More to follow soon.

Tim Gardener - Junior of the Year Award

Congratulations to Katy Barnett who at the recent General Club AGM was awarded the
Junior of the Year Award (Tim Gardener Award).

Many congratulations to her in a very succesful 12 months.

More Junior Internationals.

Many congratulations to the following who after recent trials have been selected for:

WALES U18: Oli Harvey & Rob Mugridge.

WALES U16: Huw Puckle.

END OF SEASON DINNER @ BROMLEY COURT HOTEL

END OF SEASON DINNER @ BROMLEY COURT HOTEL

Friday 18th April (Timings to follow)

Tickets are £45 which includes a 3 course meal, disco, drinks
on arrival, wine on table and champagne during speeches.

Please make cheques payable to BECKENHAM CRICKET CLUB

Ladies: Please pay to Tara Woodward
Mens: Please pay to Rob Wakeman

NUMBERS ARE LIMITED SO PLEASE GET CHEQUES IN AS A
MATTER OF URGENCY

Stuart Port's Funeral - 25th January.

Below are the details for Stuart Port's funeral

12:40 on Friday 25th January 25th at Barham Crematorium (see link below)

Streetmap

and afterwards at PoloFarm (Canterbury HC), Littlebourne Road, - everyone
welcome. See Canterbury HC website for directions.

Stuart Port

It is with great sadness to report that Stuart Port passed away on Saturday 5th Jan. He collapsed on the pitch due to an embolism whilst playing in goal for Canterbury Vets at Sevenoaks. Stuart was a fine goal keeper who played for Kent for some 10 years.

Stuart first played for Canterbury before moving to play for Beckenham where he played for the 1sts for many years in the 1970's through to mid 80's. He then moved to Bromley where he was a stalwart member for many years before moving back to Canterbury a few years ago.

He will be sadly missed by all who knew him and our thoughts are with his wife Pauline and children Laura and Steve.

Details of any funeral arrangements and family wishes will be available in due course.

Club Training.

Club Training will continue on Monday evenings at Langley Park
School Astro upto and including March 17th. It will start at 19:30.

Please make every effort to attend.

A date for your diaries.

The End of Season Ball for the 2007/08 season will be held on Friday 18th April at Bromley Court Hotel.

Further details will follow ASAP but please keep this date free to support the event.

Eddie Goldsbrough 1951-2007

It's with the deepest sadness we have to report that Eddie passed away on Sunday 2nd December 2007, following a long illness.

I am sure that I can speak for all members at the Club in saying that I feel we have lost the heart and soul of the Club, but whilst we all must feel a desperate sense of loss and sadness, we should especially offer our condolences, thoughts and support to Linda, Sarah, Anthony and all of the family.

Details of any funeral arrangements and family wishes will be available in due course.

Please make every effort to come and join us on Sat 8th for a fitting tribute to Eddie at Eddiefest

Boys U12 flying high.

FROM NEIL GOODALL

The U12 boys have recently competed in two of the regular Kent 7 a side triangular tournaments that run thorughout the season and give many children their first taste of competitive hockey.

I am pleased to report that in October a very young and inexperienced team played in the first of the seasons tournaments against 4 very strong sides from Canterbury and Ashford and won the tournament.

With 10 of the U12's at Kent U13 county trials and against full strength teams from Canterbury and Ashford this was an amazing achievement so well done to all involved.

On Sunday 4th November we then sent 2 sides to Marden where we faced teams from Marden x 2, Herne Bay and Sutton Valence. The result, 1st and 2nd places, with one team winning all their matches and scoring 19 with none conceded and the other team only losing 1-0 in their final match to the other Brom/Becks team. This was also the only goal they conceded as well. So another great effort from all the players.

A big thank you also to the parents, over 20 of them, who tunred up to help and support.

Big County Representation for Boys U13

FROM NEIL GOODALL.

On Sunday 11th November the Kent County U13 Boys final trials were held.

Of the 38 attendees a final squad of 28 were chosen to compete in the 2007/08 South England County Championships.

We are proud to announce that of this squad 10, yes 10, came from our club, so we make up over one third of the top U13 players in the county!!

Congratulations to
U13 Boys
Matthew Dyer, Nick Green, Ben Bezant, Charlie Bishop & Will Mayes

U12 Boys
George Wilson, Will Goodall, Nick Brown, Alex Bargeron (GK) & Matthew Abbett.

All players were marked across a wide range of technical skills and game play over a 3 hour assessment session and we had 4 of our players placed in the top ten of overall scores, including Will Goodall who was ranked at 3.

Well done to all the boys, what a great achievement.

Future England Star ?.

Many congratulations to Katy Barnett who earlier this month was
selected for an England U15 Assesment Weekend.

http://www.englandhockey.co.uk/news.asp?section=000100010002&id=4327

Hopefully the Club will have its first Ladies International Player in
the near future.

Mercian Kit Bags

Just a reminder that all pre ordered BromBeck (Mercian) kit bags have now arrived and can be collected at Foxgrove Road between 10.45 and 12.00 this Saturday (10th November). For those of you that were not aware that these were being sold or would like to look at one before purchasing then by all means come down on Saturday. The bags are very good value at just £11.20. I will need a total of 25 requests to order another batch so anyone that is interested please let me know on Saturday or email me david.taylor@venuereservations.co.uk

Junior Representative Honours

From Chris Rule - The Junior Boys U15 and U17 Divisional Tournaments took place in Manchester 26th -28th October.

Both Tournaments were won by the South West.

The club was very well represented at the tournament with 9 of our juniors playing for either the SE or SW as follows

SW U17 - Robert Mugridge, Adam Jordan

SW U15 - Tom Mullins

SE U17 - Oli Harvey, Kieran Mulholland

SE U15 - Jack Bridger, Chris Harden, David Howes, Huw Puckle



Many congratulations to all these players for there selection, and to those playing for the SW for winning their respective competition.

FIREWORKS DISPLAY

SATURDAY 3RD NOVEMBER
ADULTS £5

KIDS £2.50

YOUNGSTERS FREE
FULL BAR & HOT FOOD
FIREWORKS FROM 8PM
DISCO FROM 9PM
EVERYONE WELCOME
Pay on the door on the night