Roger Loveland Trophy announced

Chris Burton, who is very well known to many of us through his many years in the umpiring fraternity and is also a vice-president of the club, announces details of the new Roger Loveland Trophy.

Many of our members will not know who Roger Loveland was but those as long in the tooth as me most certainly will!

When I started umpiring back in the 1970’s, Roger, along with his very noisy brother Tony, was playing for the Old Cranleighans 1st XI and indeed skippered their side for many years. He was always the perfect gentleman and his knowledge of the game was extensive. On the pitch he played hard but fair but in the bar he was frequently the first person to buy the umpires a beer and engage them in friendly banter.

Roger continued to play, latterly in the Vets, but was still always delighted to welcome any SHUA members as old as he was! Very sadly Roger died recently very prematurely. He will be missed greatly in hockey circles.

In memory of Roger the OCHC committee has most generously offered and annual award to SHUA as they felt that Roger’s affinity with the umpires was so much a part of his hockey. We are absolutely thrilled by this and our Council has agreed that the Roger Loveland Trophy, to be presented annually at our AGM, should be awarded to the SHUA umpire who has made the most improvement during the season.

Our sincerest thanks go to the OCHC and as a vice president of their club, I hope that the next time those who knew Roger visit the club, they will raise a glass in his memory.