Dear All
Further to my last email regarding the postponement of hockey for the immediate future, I wanted to share further information on subscriptions. Whilst we have only received a few queries, I’d like to expand on this.
The Executive Committee have a duty to ensure the financial stability of the Club but also be transparent and fair when making decisions that impact their members. When the Executive Committee met on Monday, 4th January, just after Prime Minister Johnson’s announcement, we were of the understanding that come mid-February we might be in a position to re-start hockey. All the leagues were stipulating a restart date of around this time and there was an initial expectation that schools would reopen. With this in mind and that up until now sport had been allowed to continue especially, for our U18s, we took a view to not progress any subscription refunds hoping we could see out the season into April and May. However, within the space of a week this prospect, as much as it pains me to say, looks less likely as COVID-19 cases continue to surge.
In respect of the hockey club’s overheads, we have already paid out half of these commitments for the first half of the season. A large proportion of this is payable to Gryphon Hospitality (who manage the OC Club facility on behalf of the OC Society) better known as JJ and Georgie, external pitch hire costs and of course coaching fees. Membership shouldn’t just be counted as games played but all the attributes membership brings with it such as pitch hire (including pre-season), league fees, England Hockey affiliation fees, new equipment, insurance, coaching, opposition team teas for seniors etc… Through our AGM we share and sign-off our financials. They set out what we have spent and where we expect to spend in the future. It also shows that we manage things quite tightly against rising pitch hire fees and a more professional approach to coaching. These are available for all members upon request from our Hon. Treasurer.
As a hockey club per se there are currently no grants for us to claim. Business interruption grants and similar options are claimable by the Club’s facility management company and I know these have continued to be progressed since this began in March 2020.
There are still fees to be paid by the Club namely a substantial bill to England Hockey who continue to pursue their fees despite no knowledge of whether the leagues will conclude. Other costs can be contained but some require a much greater judgement about what is appropriate in these current times and the detrimental impact of not paying has on others.
As it currently stands, I don’t know when hockey will be able to restart. It may-be earlier for our U18s and England Hockey already have their ‘Road Map for Returning to Hockey’ in place from the previous lockdown. In addition at the last England Hockey meeting on the 21st December it was made clear that simply returning to competitive hockey quickly, even when we were in Tier 4, was not something we should not expect.
To summarise, our volunteer Executive Committee continue to discuss the ongoing issues of costs, subscriptions and challenges we need to overcome in order to return to hockey in the future on an almost daily basis. As such we will review our position on subscriptions in mid-February when we hope to have a greater steer from the government, England Hockey and the six league associations that our seniors are part of but at the very least, be able to give you an update. At the moment we can make many assumptions but the reality changes daily. In the respect of our senior membership, it is also fair to assume that should we decide on any form of rebate then the amount would be pro-rated for a small percentage of members yet to pay their subs in full.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you understand that until we know the full situation, we are not in a position to make any further decisions. I am committed to safeguarding the financial stability of the club but also want to ensure you that we do right by our membership.
If you have any questions please contact me directly – helen.hawes@btinternet.com.
Helen Hawes
Club Captain