THIRSK HOCKEY
CLUB
Bev Longthorne has been the junior coordinator for Thirsk hockey club for the last 18
years. In that time she has provided the driving
force that has taken the club from just a few
dozen juniors to the present over 200 that take
part on a regular basis. She was also the club
secretary for eight years, has been secretary
of the North Yorkshire Hockey Development
Group for many years and attended her work
all at the same time.
Bev is a fully qualified level 2 coach, a level 1 umpire and
is a club first aider. Her evenings and weekends are fully
committed to hockey. She generates all the details of all
the junior members for each coach and team manager
so that they are aware of the player’s next of kin, any
medical requirements that exist and the level that the
junior is able to achieve.
As part of this role she is able to put forward players
to the next level of coaching for county, regional and
eventually national level. Each season the club has had
many of the juniors step up to the next level and some
have been selected for county and divisional trials and
teams. The organisation that Bev achieves ensures that
all the juniors have the opportunity to get to the best
level they can.
Once a junior is over 14 they are eligible for
selection to a senior team. On the men’s side
there is a development team which is for U14s
with up to four senior players to guide and
direct. The development team plays in a league
so the boys get the opportunity to play against
their peers.
The club exists in its current form and will develop
further with the effort that Bev puts in behind the scenes
as well as on the pitch. She is at the coaching evenings
each week, both co-ordinating the groups and ensuring
sufficient coaches are with each group, coaching when
necessary, answering parents questions, controlling the
entry fees and introducing new players to the appropriate
age group coach.
We are a community club and encourage all
levels and abilities to join us. We hold open
days and club days to enable interested people
to come along and try out hockey. We also
run a “back-to-Hockey” course as promoted
by England Hockey. This has brought people
back to the game that they had played when
younger but other commitments had stopped
them continuing to play.
Outside of the usual training evenings she arranges
two club open days each year and an end of season
celebration with games and awards. Just to ensure all
age groups are covered she has also run a “Back to
Hockey” course for players who had left the sport were
interested in having another go now that they are able.
This course has been a priority for England Hockey and
again Thirsk are one of only a few clubs in Yorkshire that
have provided the opportunity.
It is difficult to imagine how the club would have reached
the level of recognition it has if Bev had not been
involved the way she has. Even when her husband was
diagnosed