League restructure for Men's Firsts disappointing
Posted by Nobody on 12 August 2014
Tamworth Hockey Club are facing up to a season in the bottom tier of Midlands Hockey following a restructure which has seen East and West Midlands Divisions 2 removed and a Midlands 2 division added higher in the league pyramid.
Tamworth will now play in East Midlands 1 despite finishing 6th aggrieved that they finished higher than Buxton who finished 7th season but have found themselves in East Midlands Prem. To add insult to injury, due to the geographical location of the club, Tamworth have been moved across to the East which means trips as far as Oundle, Kettering, Long Buckby and Newark.
The change effectively means that Tamworth will have been relegated two seasons in a row and new captain Tom Hancox will be facing an unexpected challenge in his first season in charge. Hancox said: "I think an obvious error has been made in placing Buxton higher than ourselves, and disappointing that nothing is being done to correct it. All we can do now is make sure that we get promoted this season, and prove that we should never have been in that league in the first place."
The club have appealed to the league to review the situation however so far they have been met with a refusal to consider a change, with the club being referred back to league rules which state they may be placed in any division at the discretion of the league but will continue to lobby to have what they believe an injustice rectified prior to the start of the 2014/15 season starting in October.
Anybody wishing to play hockey for Tamworth can go along to the Clubs open day on Saturday 30th in West Midlands 1 last season. The club are particularly in East Midlands 1 last August at Landau Forte QEMs from 11am-1pm.
