The people that make it happen in the Northern Hockey section
The following information provides (in a nutshell) information about the different roles and responsibilities that our army of brilliant volunteers undertake to make the Northern hockey section a great place to be part of. Most roles are proposed and elected to at the annual general meeting (AGM). To be proposed for a role, the person must be someone who is known to the club as either a member or parent/carer of a junior member. It’s important to us that our volunteers are team players when it comes to working with others and are up for bringing their time, talents, enthusiasm, positivity and energy to the role. All people who volunteer for the club are required to follow and promote the Northern club policies, in particular the ‘positions of trust code of conduct’.
Hockey Section Chairs:
The hockey section has two Chairs (Co-Chairs) who work together to oversee the successful and safe running of the hockey section by working in partnership with the ladies, men’s and junior section, hockey committee, hockey members and the sports executive committee which is a group involving all Northern sports section Chairs.
Responsibilities include:
- Being proactive in providing positive leadership to make sure the hockey section at the Northern club is welcoming, inclusive, run safely and is a place where players and volunteers of all abilities have the opportunity to develop and enjoy being part of the sport.
- Being an initial contact for people interested in finding out more about hockey and membership at the Northern club.
- Timetabling and chairing regular committee meetings throughout the year.
- Making sure committee notes, actions and communications are maintained and communicated with the committee, hockey section and wider club where appropriate.
- Arranging the Annual General Meeting (AGM) where the years activity is reported on and people are elected in to key roles to make sure the hockey section runs smoothly.
- Make sure annual award and celebration events take place to support the recognition of players and volunteers.
- Make sure all areas of the hockey section are being run positively and safely and volunteers are supported to carry out their responsibilities.
- Work with relevant others eg coaches, captains, welfare officers and umpires around any disciplinary issues, concerns or incidents.
- Pro-actively and professionally address any issues that arise relating to the hockey section and wider club matters if appropriate.
- Work to recruit, recognise, develop reward and retain those who volunteer for and on behalf of the club.
- Make sure the hockey section club mark status is regularly reviewed and maintained.
- Maintain a positive relationship with the regional England Hockey representative and represent members views when consulted with by England Hockey or other hockey organising bodies that the club may benefit from working in partnership with.
- Develop, maintain and take responsibility for driving forward the hockey section development, including allocating roles and responsibilities and monitoring progress.
- Represent the hockey section at the monthly Sports Executive Committee meetings to support all sections working collaboratively and to keep up to date/support with wider club matters.
Treasurer and Deputy Treasurer
This role is overseen by a treasurer and deputy treasurer to support with making sure financial management is carried out transparently and we have good finance management in place so we are around for future generations to enjoy playing hockey at the Northern club
Responsibilities include:
- To manage and monitor hockey finances, and report to the hockey section committee regards to accounts on a regular basis.
- Prepare a set of audited accounts to report on to members at the hockey AGM.
- Prepare an annual budget and make recommendations relating to expenditure and income generation to the committee.
- Maintain all financial paperwork including cash books etc.
- Monitor receipt of funds.
- Receive, validate and arrange payment of all bills.
- Pay affiliation fees as appropriate.
- Facilitate sourcing of match and training balls for the season, as well as any other required equipment as required.
- Coordinate hockey section sponsorship and fundraising opportunities (in partnership with committee members and parents)
- Make sure hockey section members pay their annual membership at the correct rate through liaising with the hockey section Chairs and Captains.
- Undertake England Hockey annual affiliation process.
- Coordinate the astro pitch maintenance and servicing activity as required.
Captains and Vice Captains
Responsibilities include:
- and be their voice on issues that may affect them when attending committee meetings or when requesting agenda items.
- To remain impartial on discussions affecting members.
- To avoid/minimise loss of players from the club.
- Oversee a fair and transparent selection process for matches and that this is consistently applied.
- Oversee training and coaches so that all members get relevant training/time on pitch.
- Discuss with coaches what training is needed and come up with weekly training plans with them (including fitness) and be actively involved in the recruitment of coaches.
- Make sure sessions and games are run safely by undertaking health and safety checks, making sure there is always a first aid kit and protective equipment (eg face masks for short corners) available during games and training.
- Following the Northern club ‘positions of trust code of conduct’ at all times when coaching and communicating with players and parents/carers.
- Always make sure the welfare of players is recognised, supported and managed with dignity and confidentiality, and that any welfare/safeguarding matters are reported to the section welfare officers as soon as possible.
- Support the integration of youth members to senior sides when they are ready to progress at age 13 + (ladies’s hockey) age 14 + (men’s hockey)
- Arrange match refreshments/teas for home fixtures through our caterer and club manager.
- Make sure all league administration is completed on a weekly and annual basis as required and that all members are registered on the England Hockey league system.
- Communicate with the opposition to support the weekly planning of fixtures (including deciding kits colours, teas, umpiring and pitch arrangements, weekly team sheet/selection completion.
- Plan additional friendly fixtures (if required)
- Manage the teams money kitty including the weekly collection and monitoring of match subs by players.
- Celebrate the achievement of players through weekly player of match recognition, reporting on performance of games to the committee/wider members and coordinating nominations for annual awards.
- Deputise for Chair when appropriate eg at the Sports Executive Committee, league or regional meetings.
Coaches, Coaching Assistants and Side Kicks
Coaches, coaching assistants and sidekicks are all part of the Northern hockey coaching team. This group of enthusiastic volunteers work together to provide a fun, safe coaching structure that supports hockey skill and game development through training sessions and competitive matches.
At the Northern club, we recognise the importance of investing in the development of our coaches and achieve this through our commitment to funding coaching qualifications, access to relevant training, in-the-role development, peer support and making sure coaches of all levels can work together to plan sessions and support each other. We make sure that we have coaches that are qualified at level 2 or above who are responsible for overseeing coaching planning, development and that coaching assistants and side-kicks are adequately supervised and supported at all times. An appointed lead coach takes responsibility for driving forward coaching development and supervision across the section.
Responsibilities include:
- The planning and risk assessment of coaching so that training sessions are pitched at the right level, are accessible for the ages and abilities of hockey players being coached and that there is adequate supervision of players at all times.
- Making sure players have and use the appropriate kit and protective equipment during sessions. For under 18’s, gum shields and shin pads are mandatory for all training and games.
- Following the Northern club ‘positions of trust code of conduct’ at all times when coaching and communicating with players and parents/carers.
- Recognising, responding and quickly reporting any welfare concerns, incidents, accidents or near misses to the club welfare leads.
- Having basic first aid knowledge so a first aid response can be provided or coordinated if required.
- Coordinating or supporting squad selection for games and tournaments.
- Supporting our players to progress through the England Hockey player pathway through talent identification and the promotion of regional and additional coaching/competition opportunities.
- Making sure equipment is prepared for sessions, is put away properly after sessions, facilities are locked up and any equipment requests/maintenance requirements are raised with the hockey section Chairs or at committee meetings so these can be planned for/managed.
- To take responsibility for your own coaching development by keeping up to date with training requirements, hockey rules and staying informed about hockey development in general.
Welfare/Safeguarding Leads and Champions
We want everyone who plays hockey at the Northern Club to feel included, safe and be able to ask for support when they need it (children, young people and adults). The Hockey section has two appointed welfare leads who take lead responsibility for safety (including the safe recruitment of volunteers, DBS checks and reporting of concerns/incidents/accidents to relevant officials and England Hockey where appropriate). In addition we have trained welfare champions within the women’s, men’s and junior section who work together with the welfare leads to make sure we provide a safe place for everyone to enjoy hockey and that good practice followed in line with England Hockey policies and welfare good practice.
Responsibilities include:
- To make sure that the hockey section is fulfilling its legal responsibilities to safeguard children and adults at risk of harm by following relevant policies, procedures and having a positive culture when it comes preventing and protecting people from experiencing harm, bullying and abuse.
- To make sure that all those in a positions of trust follow the clubs policies, in particular the ‘code of conduct for people in positions of trust’.
- The welfare leads actively monitor the safeguarding training undertaken by volunteers in positions of trust and make sure this is regularly refreshed and received at the correct level.
- The welfare leads actively monitor first aid training needs, access to training and make sure there are appropriate First Aid resources in place at all times.
- The welfare leads oversee safe recruitment through making sure references are received, DBS checks are undertaken and reviewed every three years with the support of the England Hockey safeguarding team.
- All welfare champions and leads are required to be approachable, known to club members and that they can be a trusted point of contact for volunteers, parents, adults and children/young people where there are concerns about welfare, poor practice or abuse.
- All welfare champions and leads promote England Hockey’s best practice guidance/code of ethics & behaviour within the club, as well as anti-discriminatory practice.
- All welfare champions and leads need to be proactive in confidently advocating and promoting positive practice at all times when it comes to their welfare responsibilities
Junior lead and parent representation
We know our junior members (age 4-14) are the future of our hockey section and it’s really important they enjoy their time with us by feeling included and that they have the right opportunities to develop their hockey skills, game experience and social networks. To help us in achieving this we make sure we have parent and/or youth representation as part of our committee structure and that we encourage parents to be actively involved in the running of the junior section.
Responsibilities include:
- An appointed junior lead works to help with the coordination of junior activity and involvement of juniors and parents in the running of the junior section.
- To make sure the Northern club is represented within local and regional hockey planning. We achieve this by having an appointed representative who is able to attend or contribute to meetings/local youth development planning.
- That the views of children, young people and parents are considered within the development, planning, decision making and running of hockey at the Northern club.
- Parents are encouraged to support with making sure children are greeted and registered at the start of training sessions and games, and that they are safely returned to parents at the end of sessions.
- To make sure children and parents are kept informed of information, events and opportunities through signposting to relevant communications and supporting people to access information where support is needed
- Working with coaches, the junior section administrator and other relevant club officials to plan tournaments/events and the coordination of teams, officials and refreshments at tournaments.
- To support fundraising so that we can fund junior related activities and club equipment.
- To support the planning of social and celebration events for children, young people and their families, working in partnership with the hockey section committee, coaches, parent and youth representatives.
Junior section administrator
The Northern hockey section deliver hockey heroes (an England Hockey designed and administered eight week programme for 4-8 year olds), as well as junior hockey for 7-14 year olds. Good administration of these areas is important in supporting to achieve positive promotion and marketing of our opportunities, coaching planning, good communications with parents/cares, monitoring of attendance, payment management and coordination of kit orders.
Responsibilities include:
- Administrating the set up and bookings monitoring of Hockey Heroes programmes throughout the year.
- Responding to requests for information about our sessions, how to book on and how to pay.
- Carrying our marketing and promotion campaigns in the local area, on social media and with local schools
- Working in partnership with the hockey treasurer to monitor payments and attendance at sessions.
- Coordinating the meeting and greeting new attendee’s so they feel welcome and have a positive first experience when joining sessions.
- Responding ongoing to enquiries/questions from parents/carers.
Social Secretaries
The social secretaries make sure our members have a great time when socialising at the club and that all members are made to feel welcome, including having access to information about opportunities to get involved in the social side of hockey (on and off the pitch), as well as the wider Northern Club
Responsibilities include:
- Consulting with members about social activities throughout the year and bringing plans to the committee for agreement.
- Liaising with the Northern club manager and catering company about function room requirements and catering for events.
- Liaise with the trreasurer regarding financing (aim is to achieve “break-even” or raise funds through all events)
- Liaise with and (where required) vetting external entertainment companies where required eg DJ’s, childrens entertainment providers etc
- Make sure events are risk assessed and carried out safely (including welfare considerations for any children and young people attending events without parents)
Communications lead
Positive, professional and friendly communications are really important when it comes to attracting new players, supporters and volunteers. It’s also really important for making sure our members remain well informed and involved. We have some great platforms to support us with communications including social media, the Northern club website, hockey and Northern club member newsletters, as well as word of mouth. Having someone to support us in coordinating our communications, making sure our information is accessible and that it is as easy as possible for us to administer as a committee is key.
Responsibilities include:
- Making sure the hockey page on the Northern club webpage is well maintained, current and easy to navigate.
- Social media posits are regular, positive, informative and engaging.
- Messages are responded to promptly and by the right people.
- We utilise a range of communication approaches so we engage successfully with our range of members.
- The appropriateness of comments is monitored and any inappropriate content is quickly removed and report to the section Chair to consider how incidents may need to be responded to/managed.
- To work with relevant committee members to coordinate and develop communications.
Advisors / Critical Friends
We are really fortunate to have a number of longstanding hockey members with oodles of hockey experience, wisdom and links in to wider hockey networks. The committee will often seek to gain specific input from such individuals as part its work or when thinking through ideas and decisions. The committee may therefore invite advisors or critical friends along to committee meetings or gain their input when this would be helpful.
Where to get further information on how to get involved
The Hockey Annual General Meeting (AGM) is a meeting that all hockey section members are invited to attend. The focus of this meeting is to provide information about the hockey section, what has been achieved over the course of the year and to carry out the election of volunteers to the roles listed above. If you would like further information or to discuss any of these roles/how you can get more involved then please contact either Simone McCaskill (07939864592) or Tom Pfeiffer (07480739117) who are your section Chairs.
