Celebrating 30 years of Women’s National League Hockey, with Investec
For a brand new club playing its first season of domestic hockey, the EH Championship Cup is a thrill for City of Birmingham ladies.
The club travel to West Bridgford in the last eight of the Tier 4 Championships on March 1 and are just two matches away from Lee Valley.
“Having this cup run helps to get our name ‘out there’ and gives us the chance to play against much bigger more established clubs,” said head coach Alan Loveridge. “It really gives players something to look forward to. There’s more excitement when a cup weekend comes round, the girls start talking about it weeks ahead of the game.
“People look to see how the opposition are doing in their league, parents start making plans to travel up to watch the students in the team play, it creates a really good atmosphere around training and on the team chat.”
Loveridge said it would be a “massive achievement” to reach Lee Valley, with the club also in position to win their league. “It would be an unbelievable double to achieve this for such a new team in our first year. We can dream!”
Captain Gemma Brookes said: “To reach the quarter finals of the cup in our first season as a brand new club is a credit to how hard and well the girls all work together. We believe this team can continue to get better as we go forward and hopefully reach the final which would be a great experience for everyone.”
The player: Kayleigh Swift, forward
“Having taken a break from hockey after uni, joining this team was the best thing I did last year. As a brand new team, everyone gets on so well. We put our hearts into every game and that really shows when you look at our league position. We’re hoping to get the same results in our cup run. In the short time since the season started, my hockey skills have developed more than in my seven years of playing for a previous club. We’re always getting new members joining from across the city either from existing clubs, newbies or those wanting to get back on the astro – I think that just goes to show how welcoming we are. Now we are just focusing on the next round of the cup which is massively exciting for us all. Let’s hope we get the result we want!”
EH Tier 4 quarter-finals, March 1
Leicester City 4s v University of Nottingham 4s
London Edwardians 3s v Burnt Ash 2s
West Bridgford 2s v City of Birmingham
Surrey Spartans 1s v University of Bristol 5s
This originally featured in our February Hockey Paper edition. Don’t miss out. Subscribe in print or in digital format.
