TD cancellations explained

The pitch at Thames Ditton on Thursday afternoon

In the light of some abusive comments sent as feedback in relation to the decision to call off this weekend’s matches – typically, anonymously - I thought I would explain the background to it.

I appreciate the pitches today are playable. However, we had to make an inspection on Thursday afternoon as there was nobody available on the Friday, and then make a decision based on conditions then and what was expected. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

The pitch at 3pm on Thursday was completely covered in snow, with patches underneath still frozen (see photo). The car park and approach road were also very icy and the area next the club was dangerously so.

We consulted with the club management, and based on the situation allied to the forecast, we took the call to cancel all matches. We were fully aware this was a risk, but the only alternative was to inspect again on Friday night by which time it would have been too late to call games off. Ideally, we would have checked again on Friday but that was not an option as nobody was available.

All of us want to play hockey, so such decisions were not taken lightly. It might be worth noting that City of Portsmouth called our 1st XI match off on Thursday night and the Ladies game against Tulse Hill & Dulwich at Cranleigh was also called off the same day. I would hazard a guess those pitches were also playable today.

Everyone involved in the club does so in their own time. While disappointment is an understandable reaction to another blank weekend, anger and email comments such as “thanks for ruining my weekend you ****ing prick” are not. I only hope that was from an opposition player.

In future, when we again have a full-time presence at the club, this kind of decision will be taken out of our hands and will rest with the OC Club manager.