Hampstead & Westminster Hockey Club

Hampstead & Westminster Hockey Club is a field hockey club based in London, England. It was established in 1894. The home ground is currently at Paddington Recreation Ground, Maida Vale.^[1]

The Men's 1st XI play in the Men's Hockey League Premier Division, and the Women's 1st XI play in the Investec Women's Hockey League East Conference Division. The rest of the men's sides play in the Higgins Group London Hockey League. The women's side play in the South Clubs' Women's Hockey League and the Middlesex Women's League. The club is considered the largest adult hockey club in the UK, and fields twelve Men's sides and seven Ladies' sides, as well as various other mixed, junior and veterans sides.

Major National Honours

• 2009–10 Men's National Cup Runner Up
• 2011–12 Men's National Cup Runner Up
• 2012–13 Men's National Cup Runner Up
• 2013–14 Women's National Cup Runner Up

Men's 1st XI

Thea Hitchcock is the current Manager and has been in this role since September 2009.

At the 2012 Annual Dinner, Dan Fox was awarded player of the season for the 3rd successive year.

For the season 2012/2013, the player of the season was Toby Roche. Chris Bowen won the MVP award, which is voted by the players after every game.

The 2012/13 season began a new era at HWHC under the management team of Chris Rowolht and Tom Kavanagh. The team was led by the captaincy team of David Cooper and Tobias Cornelius Roche. Big things were expected of the season ahead with several new imports including London Olympian and BMW poster boy Iain Mackay joining the Hampstead ranks as well as Luke Kellaway being hired as first team physio. The season ended in a 6th-place finish but with strong foundations in place to build on. HWHC also reached the HA cup final, beating Fareham, Birmingham, holders Beeston and Cannock en route. Retiring first team veteran Will Naylor finished as top goalscorer.

Current Squad

As of 1st August 2016.^[2]

No. Position Player 1 GK David Kettle 3 DF David Cooper TBC DF Joe Crame TBC DF Marc Edwards 25 DF Neil Hamilton TBC DF Aaron Hudson 18 DF Alex Jakeman 23 DF Stuart Loughrey TBC DF Geoff McCabe 7 DF Toby Roche (Captain) TBC DF Richard Smith TBC DF Tom Woolven 5 MF Richard Alexander

No. Position Player TBC MF Matt Burton-Bowen TBC MF Kwan Browne TBC MF Chris Cargo TBC FW Sam French TBC MF Stephen Kelly 21 MF James Simpson TBC MF Daniel Walsh 9 MF Matthew Botha TBC FW Will Calnan TBC FW Nick Giles 22 FW Andrew Murie TBC FW Rupert Shipperley TBC FW Mikie Watt

Women's 1st XI

Experienced hockey player and coach, Mike Delaney now leads the Ladies 1st XI and will be looking to improve the team's 4th placed finish. Kiwi Mike has a wealth of experience and coaching accolades, stemming from club hockey to international coaching representation with New Zealand. Richard Smith will continue to act as Assistant Coach with the support of Manager Jo Edmonson and Captain Annebeth Wijtenburg.

September 2015, the Ladies 1st XI made their debut in the Investec Conference East Division.^[3] Coached by, Mo Rahman, supported by Assistant Coach Richard Smith, Manager Jo Edmonson and Captain Annebeth Wijtenburg the girls finished 4th in their first season.

The 2014/15 season saw the ladies gain promotion from South Clubs' Women's Hockey League Division 1 into the prestigious England Hockey National League under Steve Menzies. A club first and significant milestone for the Ladies.

In 2013/14 the Ladies finished runners up in the England Hockey Investec Women’s Cup, losing to Investec Premier Division side, Surbiton Hockey Club.

Current Squad

As of 13th October 2016.^[4]

No. Position Player 1 GK Rochelle Gianfrancesco 6 DF Brodie Fairchild 2 DF Annebeth Wijtenburg (Captain) 11 DF Fleur Horner 4 DF Katherine Baker 25 DF Katherine Mackay TBC DF Gemma Tuplin 27 DF Dannielle Jones 23 DF Elie Barnes 13 MF Alice Garrad TBC MF Katherine Langridge 21 MF Kate Mccaw 29 MF Jessica Orrett

No. Position Player TBC MF Harriet Tibble 22 MF Louise Radford 7 MF Hayley Turner 9 MF Isabel Wray 17 MF Olivia Rendall 10 FW Amy Askew 28 FW Michelle Borren 12 FW Helen Cathcart 14 FW Jasmine Clark 21 FW Joyce Esser 5 FW Cressida Grant 22 FW Diede van der Heijden

International Players Past & Present (Men & Women)

• Richard Alexander - England and Great Britain
• Elie Barnes - Wales
• Edward Bevan - Wales
• Matthew Botha - South Africa
• Chris Bowen - South Africa and Wales
• Helen Cathcart - Ireland
• Andrew Cornick - Wales
• David Cooper - England (Indoor)
• Gavin Davis - Australia
• Dan Fox - England and Great Britain
• Alice Garrad - England U21
• César Hauet - France
• Andy Hayward - New Zealand
• Richard Hildreth - Canada
• Dilawar Hussain - Pakistan
• David Jameson - Canada
• Graham Joyce - Scotland
• Justin King - South Africa
• Eddie O'Brien - Australia
• Will Naylor - England (Indoor)
• Iain Mackay - England and Great Britain
• Mitesh Patel - New Zealand
• Ben Rogers - Wales
• Marc Sala - Spain
• Stanley Shoveller - England
• Soma Singh - England and Great Britain
• Matt Simkin - Wales
• James Simpson - England U21 & Great Britain U21
• Josh Smith - Wales
• Richard Smith - England and Great Britain
• Peter Swainson - Wales
• Rob Thompson - England and Great Britain
• Tim Thompson - Australia
• Simon Towns - New Zealand
• Stephane Vehrle-Smith - Brazil
• C L Vye ^[5]
• Scott Webster - Australia
• Annebeth Wijtenberg - England (Mixed)
• Isabel Wray - Guernsey

References