The new season is almost upon us and by way of a little look ahead to what we can expect, I’ve trawled each club’s social media feeds and websites to bring you the news on who’s moved where in the Women’s Premier Division. Let’s take a look.
Post Olympic seasons are always an interesting one with players taking advantage of the chance to try different clubs and countries before the Central Programme really gets going. This time around, Australia’s Hockey One competition seems to have been a huge draw for British-based players with the likes of Giselle Ansley, Hannah French, Ellie Rayer, Grace Balsdon, Shona McCallin, Fiona Crackles, Sarah Robertson and Holly Hunt all heading Down Under to compete. The tournament runs from October to early December, so expect some returns and plenty of activity after Christmas!
Champions Surbiton have been busy with both incomings and outgoings this close season. As well as Ansley and French heading to Australia, Amy Costello is off to play for HGC in the Netherlands, Sabbie Heesh takes a break from hockey and Leah Wilkinson has taken up a coaching post at Old Georgians. Elani Sherwood and Freya Robinson head off to university and Surbiton legend Sarah Evans is not playing this season.
The most eye-catching of the new recruits is New Zealand international Liz Thompson. A double Olympian with over 200 international caps is a very exciting addition for Dave Beckett’s team. Erica Sanders returns after three seasons in the Netherlands, Jordan Homann makes the move from Nottingham University and Loughborough duo Ellie Mackenzie and Emma Uprichard are also on board.
Last year’s runners up Hampstead and Westminster have confirmed that Dave Cooper will continue as the head coach this campaign but he’ll have to deal with a few high-profile absentees. As already mentioned Robertson and Hunt have headed to Australia whilst GB legend Lily Owsley has taken the chance to go and play in Argentina for Banco Provincia. Catherine Ledesma has joined the club from Holcombe whilst Anna Moore bucks the trend by bringing her experience of the Hockey One League to England rather than going the other way. New Zealand internationals Tyler Lench and Rose Tynan have also signed on the dotted line.
Last season’s third-placed side, East Grinstead begin life without Sophie Bray and the great Laura Roper after they both retired at the end of last season. Add those to Balsdon and Rayer leaving for the Hockey One League there are some big shoes to fill at Saint Hill. Guadalupe Fernandez Lacort moves to Spain to play for Club de Campo Madrid and star goalkeeper Issy Field is off to Nottingham Uni. Liv Breed (Loughborough Uni), Anna Faulstich (Princeton), Anna Moore and Lauren Roberts (Eastbourne) complete the list of departures from the Sussex side.
In terms of players coming in, Mila Welch – part of the Great Britain Central Programme will be in goal for EG this season. She returns to the club after a stint at university. Other returnees are Carlota Gomez and Rosie Hope from Club de Campo and Michigan respectively. Ruby Massey (Sevenoaks) and Amelie Carter (Surbiton) have also joined. East Grinstead vowed to be back after their finals weekend defeat last season but they will have to gel quickly to get off to a good start this time out.
Wimbledon said goodbye to their coaching team of Alex Danson-Bennett and Colin Cooper at the end of last season and the new coach at the helm is the vastly experienced Kevin Johnson. Like a number of clubs, the Wombles lose a player to Hockey One as Fiona Crackles joins the Tassie Tigers. Goalkeeper Nicky Cochrane has left to join Reading whilst her fellow Scottish players Fiona Burnet and Jen Eadie have also moved on. Club stalwart Harriet Naismith has retired.
Replacing Cochrane in goal will be another Scottish stopper in Jess Buchanan. She was part of the Great Britain squad at the Olympics this summer, as a reserve and was very impressive in the Pro League last season. An exciting acquisition. Scotland is very much a recurring theme for the Wombles, Bronwyn Shields and Katie Birch add to the contingent and Maddie Peel has joined from Highlanders in New Zealand, which sounds sort of Scottish. (Oh come on!) Kitty Baccanello and Emily Overend complete their arrivals.
Reading enjoyed a stellar first phase of the season las time out. They finished second to put them in the mix for finals day which they ultimately missed out on, finishing behind East Grinstead and Wimbledon in the finals qualifiers. They’ll be looking to kick on this season and have added plenty of players to their ranks to do that. Lorna MacKenzie returns to England from the Bundesliga to play for the ‘Ding. New Zealand internationals Anna Crowley and Emma Findlay have also joined up. Welsh international Katie Partridge, Annie Wilson (nicknamed ‘Nacho’, apparently) and Spain U18 international Vic Monllor-Bessio have also come on board. With Nicky Cochrane replacing Amy Tennant in goal and Shona McCallin another one playing Hockey One, Reading will have a slightly different look about them but will be confident after last season.
Last season the University of Nottingham mostly beat the sides around them and picked up some good points against other sides to finish fifth in the regular season. They didn’t manage to secure a finals day berth but consolidation was very much job done for them. As you’d expect with a university side, player turnover is quite high. In goal they lose an outstanding ‘keeper in Mila Welch but gain an outstanding goalkeeper in Issy Field. With nine more players coming in and only four going out at time of writing, Nottingham look to be in a good place to strengthen and could surprise a few people this year.
The pride of the North, Bowdon tell a similar story to Nottingham: They secured themselves a place in the top six in last year’s regular season and although they didn’t reach finals day, being at the top end instead of the bottom would give them a great deal of satisfaction.
Goalkeeper Kirsty Shea has hung up the pads and will be replaced by Ella Jackson under the bar. Kiwi Alex Lukin returns to the club having tasted international hockey since she played for Bowdon previously. Rebecca Birch comes in from Ben Rhydding, Eve Pearson and Tor Hughes also join, plus Jen Park brings her experience of playing in Australia to the team.
University of Birmingham had a solid mid table finish in last year’s regular season but then had a bit of a fright when they ended up ahead of relegated Beeston on goal difference only. They’ll be keen not to have a ‘season of two halves’ this time around. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to find out who’s coming in and who’s going out of their side, so I’ll keep an eye out for when the season starts.
Clifton Robinsons were two points off qualifying for the top six phase last time out and although they made it into the third phase they ultimately couldn’t quite reach finals day. They will be looking to new signing Vicki McCabe to provide them the goals for a successful season and keen that Lauren Dunn can help them to shore things up at the back. As a side note, I very much enjoyed the rolling video highlights on the front page of their club website. So there’s that, too.
Last season Loughborough Students were third from bottom in the first phase of the season, third from bottom in the second and then ended up 5 points clear of relegation and stayed up fairly comfortably in the end.
As already mentioned, they have lost two players to Surbiton but as is always the case, lots of players are coming in, with as many as nine new faces being added to the squad.
The Mighty Pinks, Sutton Coldfield are back in the big time. They won the North League by six points and only lost twice all season. As well as being a strong challenger for best teas in the league, they will be hoping to continue that momentum to give a good account of themselves in the top flight. Twins Liv and Beth Edwards have joined the club alongside goalkeeper Amber Murray to mention just some of their seven summer signings.
Last but not least, Kent outfit Holcombe make their return to the top flight after being promoted from the South Division. They came second to Surbiton 2s who couldn’t be promoted, so the Hungry Camels took the promotion spot instead. Kiwi is very much the theme of their new signings as New Zealanders Tessa Reid, Olivia Shannon, Hope Ralph and Kaitlin Cotter have all joined. Add in former Beeston player Maddie Newitt and England youth international Evie Younger and Nick Bandurak’s side could be a very interesting one to watch this season.
So there you go. If you’ve made it this far, thank you! Hopefully I’ve not missed too many of the signings, I’ve done the best with the information I have!
Here are the opening fixtures:
12:00 – University of Nottingham vs. Bowdon
12:15 – Clifton Robinsons vs. Surbiton
14:00 – Loughborough Students vs. Reading
14:30 – University of Birmingham vs. Sutton Coldfield
16:00 – East Grinstead vs. Hampstead & Westminster
16:00 – Holcombe vs Wimbledon
The Top of the D 