Marathon Men

Eds Copleston will be running his eighth marathon this weekend when he takes part in the London event. This time Eds is running with two work colleagues and has foolishly offered to pace them round – he reckons it could be five-and-a-half hours as opposed to his best of three hours 15. The trio have raised more than £8000 for Asthma UK but contact Eds at EC@credaris.com if you would like to pledge. In all, over the eight runs, Eds will have raised £40,000 for various charities. Nick Lewis completed the Paris Marathon last weekend in a time of three hours 50 minutes.

Baby Davies arrives!

Many congratulations to Christian and Kathryn Davies on the birth of a daughter at 10.41am Friday, April 6, weighting in at 7lbs 7ozs. Both mother and daughter are fine, although the father is in a state of shock. Rather appropriately, the young lady arrived on what would have been the first morning of the Worthing Hockey Festival, an event so close to Davies’s heart.

1st XI face Yately in play-offs

Old Whitgiftians won their final match of the season, beating HAC 4-1, and so secured the Surrey Division One title. That result means that we now face a play-off against the runners-up in Hampshire, Yately, at Haslemere HC on Sunday, April 29. It would be good to have as much support as possible down there, and more details will follow nearer the time.

Harmer signs off with a curry

As he prepared to ride off into the cyber sunset, outgoing 4th XI captain Steve Harmer sent the following message to his men

After an up and down season I can now confirm that we finished seventh in our league, which to be honest is probably a true reflection of our performance this season. Yet again we managed to play very well and beat a number of the leading teams but let the poorer teams bring our standard of play down.

However, we had some memorable moments which I am sure we will recount at the end of season curry. Grant should be confirming which date we are going for in the near future (11th May or 25th May). For those that went to the end of season dinner, I understand from Sophie (as I have memory loss) that I did a speech that rambled somewhat so that I hope it did not spoil your evening too much! Congrats to Nige Hawes who was awarded 4th team player of the season on the night - however, due to Crumby demanding a recount of the official figures Grant will be assessing the official votes over the next few weeks in time for the curry. Prepare yourselves for a few Pie Charts and Line Graphs detailing your efforts throughout the season!

And finally, as you may know/have seen by CD's e-mail, Dom has now officially taken over as captain with able assistance from Grant Archer and Bertie Bance. Please give Dom and the guys all the support they need over the coming season.

Also for your interest CD as stepped down as Club Captain and David Knapp has taken over the role. I am sure we would all like to thank CD for his tireless efforts over the last few years as he has turned the club around. We wish Knappy the best of luck in his new role. Many thanks and see you at the curry.

Knapp steps up as club captain

The AGM was held at TD on Wednesday, March 28 and a number of changes were made for the forthcoming season.

At the top, Christian Davies, under the pressure of impending fatherhood, has stepped down as club captain. I know everyone would like to thank CD for all his hard work, and he has taken the role so seriously that on occasion he has been spotted sober at TD on a Saturday. He wanted to hand over to a fitter and younger(looking) person, so David Knapp will take on the challenge.

The following officials were appointed for the 2007-08 season.

Club President Tim Cook

Club Captain David Knapp

Hon Secretary Dodie Khurshid

Hon Treasurer Martin Williamson

Hon Fixtures Secretaries Andrew Eve; Sarah Tucker

1XI Captain Eds Copleston

2XI Captain Abeed Janmohamed/Rob Merry

3XI Captain James Armitage/Richard Lawrence

4XI Captain Dom Tucker/Bertie Bance/Grant Archer

Vets Captain Wade Pollard

Ladies Captain Jax Joyce

Mixed Captain Rosie Marriott

A final message from CD – “I would also like to thank, on behalf of the club, Billy, Harmer and Hels for all of their efforts over the years running the 2XI (Studio), 4XI and Ladies respectively.” And we all endorse that.

Details about arrangements for the Summer League, subscriptions for 2007-08 and developments at the club to follow.