Hockey - Mid-Season Report 

What a start to the season we've had! Record numbers regularly at training under new coaching team Mike Penny and Dawn Whitmore, with a number of new male and female faces and many Old Boys returning to the Astroturf after a few years away. The club has been rebuilding momentum since the summer and the excellent club spirit is a testament to the hard work of the captains and coaches.

1st XI captain, Joe Gray, and I recently had a most enjoyable and productive meeting with Richard Alexander, the School's new Head of Hockey. Many of you will know the name, and as an ex-England and GB legend, his appointment brings fantastic opportunities for School and OMT Hockey. Sadly, his professional coaching and playing commitments prevent him playing for or coaching us at the moment. But he is fully supportive of our efforts and what we are trying to achieve, and has some great ideas for taking the club to the next level in the coming years. 

With the continued inflow of schoolboys and the unerring support of their parents, we've put out four men's sides each week. And the somewhat new-looking teams are finding their feet. As I write, the 1st and 2nd teams are in 9th and 8th position in their very competitive leagues, and the 3rd and 4th XIs, having achieved a number of fine victories sit 7th and 5th respectively in theirs. 

On the back of last year's success for the ladies, we've entered a second team, in an historic moment for the club. The OMT Duchesses sit 5th in their League and have ambitions of a 2nd successive promotion and our new team, the OMT Countesses, are settling down well, currently in 10th place in theirs with two games in hand. Thanks to the hard work of people like Caroline Lewis and Dawn Whitmore, the OMT Hockey Club's venture into Ladies’ League hockey has been a roaring success both on and off the pitch. Long may that continue. 

As we enter the second half of the season, we're all looking forward to the annual OMT Cup match against the School on Sunday 22 March 2015. It's our turn to host, so it would be great to have the usual OMT Society and Parent support at that event, the highlight of the OMT hockey calendar, and an important event in the OMT Society's sporting year. Please make a note of the date in your diaries. This year, we are also starting to look ahead to the 50th Anniversary of OMTHC, which was founded in 1966. We are planning to celebrate with a number of special events, the highlight of which will be a 50th Anniversary Dinner at Merchant Taylors' Hall in September/October 2016. We will provide further details in the next issue of the News Sheet. 

As mentioned above, we continue to liaise with and build on our very strong relationship with the School Hockey Parent Group, the Strikers, with cross-representation on each other’s committees. In October, we attended and supported a most enjoyable Race Night fundraiser run by the Strikers, and it is great to see so many parents attending our matches and celebrating our victories with us in the OMT Clubhouse after the games. 

Finally, we continue to work and liaise closely with the OMT Society and OMT Club and are most grateful to both for their on-going help and support, which is hugely appreciated, and without which we could not achieve the success I have outlined above. These links are important to all of us, and were noted by those on the OMTHC table at the recent OMT Society Dinner at Merchant Taylors' Hall, an event that we all enjoyed hugely. It served as good pre-match training for our League matches the next day! 

Varun Paul
Chairman OMTHC
November 2014