Dunfermline CHC increasing participation with new facility

 

Hockey’s happening in Central Fife
It’s been a year since the new sand based pitch was built at the Michael Woods Sports Centre in Glenrothes and since the beginning of Summer 2013 Dunfermline Carnegie HC are doing all that they can to increase hockey in the Fife area.
Dunfermline Carnegie HC realised that to create a hockey base in Glenrothes it would take more than just moving senior games to the pitch. They also wanted to build on their success of developing their youth activity in Dunfermline & West Fife area.
In 2012 work began ahead of the pitch being completed to create a youth session at Balwearie High School in Kirkcaldy, this being the only pitch in the area. This session was aimed to start to raise interest amongst the local schools for hockey. In the meantime, plans were put in place to kick start a full programme once the new pitch became available. Awards for All funding was secured for the facility and coach costs and links were made to Active Fife (Sports Development & Active Schools).
The new pitch opened in early summer 2013 and DCHC started the 2013-14 season with an open day at Glenrothes for seniors and juniors. They also rolled out a programme of school tasters to 18 primary schools around Glenrothes and started up a youth session on a Tuesday evening, this resulted 20 new youth players regularly attending the session. Not wanting to rest on their laurels, a recent games day at Glenrothes saw 36 youths attend, with over half new to the club.
They didn’t just focus on the youth development of the club as DCHC started up a ‘Come Back to Hockey’ session for adults to encourage ex-players back into hockey. This has been a real success, particularly for the ladies section. The ladies now have enough players to start up a 3rd XI that are playing friendly fixtures and with a new coach; a local gentleman who also wanted to come back to hockey and do more than play.
As well as attracting new players to the club, the project has increased the volunteer base with five new teacher volunteers and four new club volunteers helping deliver the activities. This has been crucial to the success of the project with the new volunteers in Dunfermline are able to free up coaches to lead the central Fife project. The next stage of the project will see club coaches mentoring the new volunteers to help them firmly establish hockey within the schools. A STIX course and equipment loan (via Active Fife) has also helped to support the primary schools.
Now that the Glenrothes activity is well established, the next step is to replicate the structure in Kirkcaldy. The new Kirkcaldy Sports Centre is providing a new indoor facility for the club and school tasters that have been put on have started to attract pupils to their indoor and outdoor sessions. These sessions will act as a feeder into the main youth sessions in Glenrothes and will be an important local opportunity for players in Kirkcaldy to take the first step into a club hockey.
The challenge in Kirkcaldy and across Fife is to grow the participation for Secondary pupils. With new competition opportunities for the schools we hope to see an increase in participation in schools and the club. With the success and experience they have gained so far, the club are in a good position to continue to grow, raise the profile of hockey in Fife and widen their base of players, coaches and volunteers for a strong sustainable future for the club.

Hockey’s happening in Central Fife

It’s been a year since the new sand based pitch was built at the Michael Woods Sports Centre in Glenrothes and since the beginning of Summer 2013 Dunfermline Carnegie HC are doing all that they can to increase hockey in the Fife area.

Dunfermline Carnegie HC realised that to create a hockey base in Glenrothes it would take more than just moving senior games to the pitch. They also wanted to build on their success of developing their youth activity in Dunfermline & West Fife area.

In 2012 work began ahead of the pitch being completed to create a youth session at Balwearie High School in Kirkcaldy, this being the only pitch in the area. This session was aimed to start to raise interest amongst the local schools for hockey. In the meantime, plans were put in place to kick start a full programme once the new pitch became available. Awards for All funding was secured for the facility and coach costs and links were made to Active Fife (Sports Development & Active Schools).

The new pitch opened in early summer 2013 and DCHC started the 2013-14 season with an open day at Glenrothes for seniors and juniors. They also rolled out a programme of school tasters to 18 primary schools around Glenrothes and started up a youth session on a Tuesday evening, this resulted 20 new youth players regularly attending the session. Not wanting to rest on their laurels, a recent games day at Glenrothes saw 36 youths attend, with over half new to the club.

They didn’t just focus on the youth development of the club as DCHC started up a ‘Come Back to Hockey’ session for adults to encourage ex-players back into hockey. This has been a real success, particularly for the ladies section. The ladies now have enough players to start up a 3rd XI that are playing friendly fixtures and with a new coach; a local gentleman who also wanted to come back to hockey and do more than play.

As well as attracting new players to the club, the project has increased the volunteer base with five new teacher volunteers and four new club volunteers helping deliver the activities. This has been crucial to the success of the project with the new volunteers in Dunfermline are able to free up coaches to lead the central Fife project. The next stage of the project will see club coaches mentoring the new volunteers to help them firmly establish hockey within the schools. A STIX course and equipment loan (via Active Fife) has also helped to support the primary schools.

Now that the Glenrothes activity is well established, the next step is to replicate the structure in Kirkcaldy. The new Kirkcaldy Sports Centre is providing a new indoor facility for the club and school tasters that have been put on have started to attract pupils to their indoor and outdoor sessions. These sessions will act as a feeder into the main youth sessions in Glenrothes and will be an important local opportunity for players in Kirkcaldy to take the first step into a club hockey.

The challenge in Kirkcaldy and across Fife is to grow the participation for Secondary pupils. With new competition opportunities for the schools we hope to see an increase in participation in schools and the club. With the success and experience they have gained so far, the club are in a good position to continue to grow, raise the profile of hockey in Fife and widen their base of players, coaches and volunteers for a strong sustainable future for the club.

Dunfermline CHC kids

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