NWHL Report 2014/ 15 Season

The season was successful with 41 teams competing across the four divisions as four new teams joined the Notts Women’s Hockey League, three from existing clubs; Worksop, North Notts and Boots with an additional team coming from Nottingham Trent University re-entering the league after a number of years of not competing. The results were:

Winners / Runners Up
Premier Division / Worksop 1 / Southwell Brincliffe United 1
Division One / Boots IV / Ashfield Aztecs 1
Division Two / Newark III / Boots V
Division Three / Nottingham Trent University / Southwell Brincliffe United III
Cup / North Notts II / Worksop 1
Shield / Newark III / Boots VI

The season ran smoothly despite a number of league fixtures being postponed due to poor weather and all fixtures but one Premier fixture being completed by the final weekend It was agreed this fixture would remain unplayed as it had no impact on the final placings.

The Premier Division was won by a strong Worksop team who only lost one fixture but who were pushed all the way to end of the season by Southwell Brincliffe. Division One was won on goal difference by newly promoted Boots IV over Ashfield Aztecs. A strong Newark III side took both the Division Two prize as well as the Shield trophy and Division Three was won by a very convincing new team from Notingham Trent University.

The Cup and Shield finals were played at Highfields on the water based pitch. A great day of hockey, which was enjoyed by the many supporters as well as the teams.The Shield Final being an interesting experience, the game started on time after a number of supporters swept the waterlogged pitch to make it playable and the final being stopped just a few minutes in to the second half as the pitch once more became unplayable. Both teams wanted to complete the final and persuaded their supporters once more to clear away the water once the rain had finished. Luckily the match was completed in normal time to allow the Cup Final to be played on time. Although the shield result indicated a one-sided affair it was far from that with a young Boots side putting up a very credible performance against their more experienced opponents. The Cup final was a completely different story played in sunshine and after being goal-less in both full time and extra time was finally won by North Notts on penalties.

The AGM will be held on Thursday 30th April. Items to be discussed will included some suggested changes to the NWHL rules for next season in relation to the draw for cup and shield games in an attempt to get more teams to fulfil their fixtures against high placed league teams. The new committee will also be elected for next season with most members being willing to stand for another season and a handover of the league secretary.

The committee is already aware that three more teams wish to join the league, on top of the four that had successfully joined in 2014, which shows what a health position Women’s hockey is with Nottingham at the moment. However, this will mean extra fixtures being played through-out the season which will mean a require an earlier start to the season for 2015-16

It will be suggested that the Pre-Season meeting be held on Thursday 10thSeptember 7.30pm at Highfields.

Secretary / Chairman / Treasurer
Gareth Parr / Andy Barnes / Sara Parr