Loughborough Carillon unveil major expansion
LOUGHBOROUGH Carillon Hockey Club has unveiled ambitious plans to branch out from mixed hockey and launch a men’s and women’s section for the forthcoming 2019/2020 season.
The club is one of the oldest and most successful mixed clubs in the region but has decided the expansion into single sex hockey will help the club to progress and it has recruited coach Jez Clarke from Loughborough Town to be the new head coach.
Initially Carillon will enter two Men’s Teams and one Women’s Team into the Midlands pyramids with plans already in place to add additional teams for the 2020/2021 campaigns.
Club chair Adrian Dewick said: “We have been discussing offering single sex hockey for a number of years and we firmly believe that now is the right time.
“Everything is in place not only to start the single sex sections but to hit the ground running. We have an excellent head coach on board who has the full backing of the committee.”
The head coach is Jez Clarke who has been involved in Loughborough hockey for over two decades. He started his playing career at Carillon as a junior before moving on to Leicester Thursday.
He joined the staff of Loughborough Endowed Schools where he now holds the position of Director of Hockey and recently managed Loughborough Town Men’s first Xl squad.
Dewick added: “It’s great to get Jez on board. His enthusiasm for our sport and his drive to bring single sex hockey to Carillon is fantastic for us. We can’t wait to get started.”
Carillon will still maintain their five mixed teams and it is hoped that the new members that the single sex sections will bring in will only bolster these sides.
As part of the coaching programme Carillon will be running Men’s training on Tuesday evenings and Women’s and Mixed on Thursday. Training will start on August 27 and August 29 respectively. There will also be separate training for U13 and U10 age groups.
There will be two ‘taster sessions’ in July as an introduction to Loughborough Carillon Hockey Club.
The first session is next Tuesday (July 2) between 6.30pm and 8pm and will be on the new astro at Loughborough Grammar School.
• Anyone wanting more information can contact Adrian Dewick on 07710 090 718 or email adydewick@yahoo.co.uk