CARADON HOCKEY CLUB HISTORY & BEGINNINGS Caradon Hockey Club was formed for the 2007/2008 season when local teams Saltash Essanians and Liskeard/Looe were merged. Despite being rivals on the pitch at this time, numbers were dwindling in both clubs, and all everyone wanted to do was to continue playing the sport we loved. Differences were put aside and so began the unstoppable force of Caradon! The name Caradon is the local district of Cornwall in which we play our hockey, which includes both Saltash, Liskeard and Looe. Based in Liskeard, we play our home matches at Lux Park leisure centre. There are still links to our former teams in the Club kit colours which incorporate both the gold of the Cornish coat of arms and Essanians shirts, as well as the black and red of the Liskeard/Looe kit. 1 CARADON HOCKEY CLUB TEAMS & COUNTY REPRESENTATION The Club initially began with a Ladies 1s and 2s team and one Men’s team. In our 10 years we have now expanded to become the biggest club in Cornwall, with 12 competitive teams offering hockey at levels to suit all abilities. Caradon’s team list now includes the following teams playing in the area leagues: West Clubs Women’s Hockey League - www.wcwhl.co.uk Ladies 1s - South Division Ladies 2s - Trelawney One Ladies 3s - Trelawney Two Ladies 4s - Trelawney Two The GoCre8 Hockey League - www.wswhl.co.uk Mens 1s – The GoCre8 Hockey League – Southern 2 Mens 2s – The GoCre8 Hockey League – South West 2 Many of our players have also gone on to represent the county of Cornwall, including the Over 40s West Regionals and Masters, Over 45s Masters West Regionals and the Devon & Cornwall combined ladies and men’s County Masters Over 40s squads. In addition, we have Club member Glayne Price standing for all hockey matters as the Chair for Cornwall County Hockey Association Committee and Council representation at the West Hockey Association. 2 WEST CLUB’S WOMEN’S LEAGUE WOMEN’S CLUB’S WEST Ladies 1s - South Division Ladies 2s - Trelawney Division One 3 WEST CLUB’S WOMEN’S LEAGUE WOMEN’S CLUB’S WEST Ladies 3s - Trelawney Division Two Ladies 4s - Trelawney Division Two 4 THE GOCRE8 HOCKEY LEAGUE Mens 1s - Southern Two Mens 2s - South West Two 5 CARADON HOCKEY CLUB BACK TO HOCKEY Caradon encourage all age groups, men, women, juniors and all abilities, including our Back To Hockey opportunities with the Badgers team. The Badgers play regular games either interclub or with other Badger teams from the area, this is aimed at those who are not yet getting regular league hockey or who are just coming back from injury, having children, having a break from the sport or are giving it a try for the first time. They are welcome to join in training in a fun environment and can move up to competitive league teams if and when they feel ready, with full support from the Club. 6 BACK TO HOCKEY TO BACK 7 CARADON HOCKEY CLUB CARADON JUNIORS #inspirethefuture Alongside our six senior teams, we also have six junior teams who play their games against local teams of the same age range. We have players from as young as 5 who are enthusiastic to pick up a stick and confident to already run with the ball and make a tackle! Our junior section has teams for Under 8s, Under 10s, Under 12s, Under 14s and Under 16s for girls, boys and mixed groups. Caradon is open to everyone, we fully support anyone who would like to play at a certain level or just train to improve their fitness while having fun. We are a family friendly Club, with many siblings playing in the same teams as well as children and their parents getting the chance to play alongside each other. Caradon HC has strong links with local Primary and Senior Schools through the Sport Cornwall “Satellite Clubs” programme. As an England Hockey Clubs First Accredited Club, we support young players to develop through the County and Regional hockey development structure, with many of our members playing county for Cornwall. 8 #inspirethefuture 9 CARADON HOCKEY CLUB SUMMER LEAGUE & SOCIAL It’s a sad time when the regular winter season ends, so Caradon encourage players to ‘keep their eye in’ over the warmer months taking part in the Summer League games in neighbouring Plymouth. We have three mixed teams of men and women in three different level leagues playing games between May and July – Caradon Lions Caradon Beavers Caradon Kittens Those not playing in the Plymouth Summer League can come along to our Summer Club on a Wednesday night for mini and full pitch mixed games. We also know when to have some fun off the pitch! Our ‘hockey family’ organise events during and in between seasons with team mates making friends for life. 10 SUMMER LEAGUE & SOCIAL SUMMER LEAGUE 11 CARADON HOCKEY CLUB UMPIRING & COACHING Umpiring and coaching opportunities are open to anyone at Caradon who is interested and keen. Working towards qualifications not only builds confidence and character, in turn it also helps the Club with more coaches for our every expanding team numbers and with umpiring, enables us to never be short of an umpiring pool for home games. Gaining levels of umpiring also aids the local hockey region as we are able to offer umpires to other Clubs and fixtures. Caradon fully support those who want to work their way through umpiring and coaching courses as another prospect for our members to pursue in hockey. 12 ROLL OF HONOUR & MILESTONES ROLL 2007 Saltash Essanians and Liskeard & Looe Hockey Clubs merge to form Caradon Hockey Club 2010 April Caradon 1s win the Cornwall County Cup One of the first Clubs in Cornwall to achieve ‘Clubs First’ May Accreditation 2011 November Named Junior Club of the Year at the Cornwall Sport Awards 2012 April Caradon 2s – Cornwall County Plate Finalists Caradon host the only East Cornwall ‘Hockey House’ for watching August the London 2012 Olympics October Caradon’s ‘Back To Hockey’ sessions begin 2013 March Unbeaten County U16’s Mixed Squad September County Tournament Winners – Ladies 1st Team 2015 June Mixed County Tournament Winners 2016 March Unbeaten Ladies 2s win promotion to Trelawney Division One Mens 1s win promotion to the Southern 2 League as Champions U12 boys represent Cornwall at the South West Regionals July Caradon Lions runners up - Plymouth Summer League 7s Tournament September Caradon 7’s tournament winners – Ladies 1st XI Men’s second team added to Caradon’s senior team list, playing in South West 2 November Win Adult Club of the Year at the Cornwall Sport Awards 2017 Caradon ‘Do The Double’. Ladies 1s win the Cornwall County Cup, April Ladies 2s win the Cornwall County Plate at Finals Day in Penzance Awarded England Hockey Club of the Year at the national ceremony May in Leicester September Caradon introduce a Ladies 4th team into Trelawney Division 2 2018 March 10th Anniversary Celebrations 13 CARADON HOCKEY CLUB CARADON ‘DO THE DOUBLE’ Caradon Ladies finished the 2016/17 season in style by ‘doing the double’ in the County Tournament and winning both the Cornwall County Cup and Plate on a sunny finals day in Penzance. The Club organised a coach down to Penzance Astro Park for both teams and a collective of Caradon supporters. The Ladies 2s were up first with a 10am pushback against Penzance 2s for the Plate. After a fiesty game, they came out 4-2 winners getting the day off to a fantastic start. The 1st team then faced Bodmin in the Cup Final, a penalty scored by Caradon and one saved by the Caradon goalkeeper made it an exciting game for the neutral. But with the positive and loud crowd behind them, we finished 3-1 winners claiming the Cup and the day in an historic event for the Club. 14 CARADON ‘DO THE DOUBLE’! 15 AWARD WINNING AWARD CORNWALL SPORTS AWARDS In the past two years we have celebrated success off the field, winning both regional and national awards for the work the club does, its achievements and ethos. Up against local football and rugby teams, hockey came out the winner as we took home the Cornwall Sports Partnership Adult Club of the Year in 2016. The annual event, held at The Headland Hotel, Newquay, saw over 300 of Cornwall’s dedicated volunteers, coaches, officials, organisations and young leaders from over 28 different sports come together to celebrate Sport in Cornwall. This achievement followed on from Caradon winning Junior Club of the Year in 2011. Previous nominations at this ceremony have also included: 2013 – Clare Poad, Community Coach of the Year 2015 – Clare Poad, Volunteer of the Year 2017 – Alf Oliver, Lifetime Achievement 16 AWARD WINNING AWARD ENGLAND HOCKEY AWARDS Six months later, Caradon found ourselves on a national stage. Shortlisted for Club of the Year at the England Hockey Awards felt like achievement enough for our ‘little’ club from Cornwall, as a group of us made the 520-mile round trip to Leicester. Purely to be included in the top event for our sport was surreal, to be in a room with Rio Gold Medal Olympians, even more so. But when the Caradon name was read out, beating some long-established clubs from Hampstead and Westminster, Holcombe and Bishop’s Stortford to name a few, the reaction was clear that we weren’t expecting it! It was a night and a title that will stay in Caradon memories and history forever, giving the Club national exposure and many sponsorship opportunities.