Crowborough Hockey Club
MEET OUR COMMITTEE
Hilary Brown
Club President
Hilary has been a member of Crowborough Hockey Club since its inception in 1968. In that time she has seen it grow to provide teams for all ages for both men and women. You can always see Hilary up at the pitch early on a Saturday morning to help out with junior training or supporting all the teams league matches. She describes Crowborough Hockey Club "A great Club of which I am proud to be President." Hilary won the England Hockey Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023 for her dedication and devotion to Crowborough Hockey Club. Her past and present peers described her as the "Best of role models" and also that she is "At the very heart of the club". As a club we are so privileged to have someone like Hilary, her unwavering support and commitment is exemplary.
Lucy Smith
Club Captain
Lucy has been playing hockey for Crowborough Hockey Club for about 12 years and is a stalwart and ever present member of the Women's 1's side. She is always up at the hockey pitch whether that is to play, train, umpire or support. In her words it's "the best sports club" she has ever been a part of. As Club Captain Lucy works with all of the captains across the whole club, men's, women's and the youth development coaches. This is to ensure the best outcomes not only for individual teams or members within the club but the collective club. She upholds the club ethos and sets a great example for our younger members, Lucy is truly a great Club Captain.
Dani Newitt
Chairperson
Dani has been playing for Crowborough Hockey Club since 2011 and soon after joined the committee for the club she loves. She was the Club Secretary for a dedicated 7 years working with multiple different chairs. Now in her second year in the role as Chairperson her focus is building on the success of the new pitch and getting us new, good quality equipment like dugouts. Dani is also a strong and determined defender who bravely covers the post during short corners. On top of all this she is also our clothing officer which includes coordinating the clubs kits and playing shirts. Dani has been instrumental in the club's development and has ambitious plan for its continued growth and success.
Vacant
Club Secretary
Keren Loder
Club Treasurer
Keren has played at a variety of levels for different clubs as a goalie for many years, she used to play for our Women's 2's team but moved to Maidstone to play at a higher level. Recently she made it into the South East England Hockey over 35's masters team. Despite no longer being at the club Keren still umpires for us regularly and has been our club treasurer for 2 years because she loves the club so much. When she isn't in goal Keren is either umpiring, helping out with junior tournaments or supporting young umpires and outside of hockey she loves going on walks, reading, the theatre and music concerts.
Harry Hook
Mens 1st XI Captain
Harry started playing at Crowborough Hockey Club when he was 12 and hasn't been anywhere else, he has worked his way through the Men's teams all the way to now Men's 1's captain. After their successful promotion last season they have attracted some familiar faces back to the club which will be very exciting to see. With new people filling in the squad Harry is hoping to strengthen all of the men's teams this season through his role of team selection of the men's side of the club. His aim as 1's captain is to get them to gel as a team as much as possible and see how competitive they can really be in this tougher league.
Sam Williams
Womens 1st XI Captain
Sam is a fun and friendly person who is the Women's 1's captain, she brings skill, determination and speed to the team and always nurtures the youngsters who are developing through the club. With this role comes the responsibility of overseeing all the Women's section team selection and she does a great job working with the other Women's captains to give each team a strong squad of players. When Sam isn't in hockey mode she loves to watch the rugby and her day time job is as a wine maker but don't worry she will still make time to reprise her role once or twice a year as the Quizmaster at our fundraiser Quizes.
Justin Singleton
Training, welfare, Growth & Development
Justin joined the club to work with juniors in 1999 and 2 years later became a player and coach, he has coached many sides including for Sussex, Bennett school, mixed hockey and many more teams. He has captained all the clubs men's sides and played over 400 games for Crowborough Hockey Club. Justin is a valued member of the club which was shown through his status of Vice-president. If Justin is not coaching, going to committee meetings, captaining, training, ferrying his daughter to games or playing himself you will see him still at the hockey pitch umpiring lots of games for the club. Justin is truly a club legend.
Amanda Catling
Fixture Secretary & Umpire Secretary
Amanda has played hockey from the age of 11 and captained the Under 16's & Under 18's at Sussex level. Although she took time out to have a family once her girls where old enough to hold a hockey stick they where encouraged to play at Crowborough Hockey Club. Amanda watched her daughters for a few years from the sidelines before taking over their girls development team and leading the to win a cup. Now they are all grown up she has picked back up her hockey stick and is playing for the Womens 1's after working her way up from the Women's 3's. Amanda also umpiries every week, takes her daughters to their games, supports other Crowborough sides and she holds 2 committee roles. Amanda lives and breathes hockey!
Vicky Dennett
PR Officer
Vicky has been playing hockey for the past 20 years after making the transition from football where she played for Coventry City. Her highlights at Crowborough Hockey Club are captaining the Womens 2's in the Vase Final in the 2015-16 season, gaining promotion with the Womens 2's to division 2 as title winners in the 2019-20 season and seeing both the Under 10's & 12's sides win medals at Sussex tournaments. Vicky does so much for Crowborough Hockey club including captaining, playing wherever she is needed, umpiring, coaching juniors and organises opportunities for young umpires. If she is not doing all of these things she can be seen behind a camera taking pictures of everyone for the newspaper so watch out!
Sam Chick
Sponsorship Officer
Sam has played for Crowborough Hockey Club since he was 13 years old (10 years) and is a crucial member of the Men's 1's team cutting in from the left wing. After working his way up from starting in Boy's Development he thought that this season was the time to give back to the club and volunteer on our committee. His passion for the team and club is inspiring and us as a club will benefit drastically from his presence on the committee. Sam has watched the club evolve and is stoked about the future and what he can contribute. Up the Crows!
Kate Baxter
Social Officer
Kate has played at Crowborough Hockey Club since she was 13 and is always one of our top goal scorers each season, regularly scoring hattricks. Her committee role includes organizing social evets for the club members to enjoy and she played a key part in organizing the fundraisers which helped us raise the money to get a pitch relay. Kate plays for Womens 1's as there main center forward, she brings experience to the young forward line and we all can't wait to welcome her back from injury very soon.
Josie Mitchell
Membership Officer
Josie joined Crowborough Hockey Club in September 2022 after not playing for several years but her love and passion for hockey returned very quickly with the help of her new teammates. Last season she stepped up to Captain the Women's 2's and did such an amazing job, she was commended for her awesome leadership skills with the club Captain of the Year award which was highly deserved. Sadly towards the end of last season Josie ruptured her ACL so she will be out for a while but she has stepped up to join the committee as Membership Officer and will help out with some coaching too before she is back in action.
Bethy Catling
Digital Officer
Bethy has played matches at Crowborough Hockey Club since the age of 11 but has trained at our Saturday junior training since the age of 8. She has played in the Women's 2's, 3's & 4's but started out in the Girl's development team. Having just turned 19 she is the youngest committee member and is carrying on as Digital Officer for her 2nd year and through her role she plans to use different platforms to promote this amazing Club and gain many more new members. She has gained over 850 followers on the Crowborough Hockey Club Instagram Page and can't wait for the season to start so she can get some new content and start a Tik Tok page for the club.