Yes, we’re still here!
We hope our county clubs have had a successful first season in the new era of England Hockey Regions and Areas.
The Kent Hockey Association still exists, playing a significant role at junior and school hockey levels.
We are also able to continue to run the Kent Cup competitions (Men’s, Women’s, Mixed and Masters), if there is demand to continue.
We haven’t run them for the past couple of seasons, due to the ongoing pandemic, and choose not last season to allow the new leagues to bed in, and following feedback we received from a survey based on the Men’s Kent Cup:
- The Kent Cup isn’t what it used to be – several clubs mentioned they would prioritise EH Championships
- Getting availability on Sunday’s is proving more difficult
- More beneficial to play outside of the two league blocks, especially September
- Finals Day is too long after the season is finished
- Some Clubs have indicated they would no longer wish to enter a Kent Cup competition
- Some Clubs have indicated that more Men’s teams should be able to enter a tiered Men’s Kent Cup competition, like what already exists for the Women’s section.
Based on the above, we could make substantial changes to the Kent Cup competitions, or simply retire them until interest resumes.
We suggest the following:
Men’s and Women’s
- Three tiered competitions for
- Teams at Premier, Division 1 East/West and Invicta Division 1 level
- Teams at Invicta Division 2, 3 and 4 (Women’s) and 2-5 (Men’s) level
- Teams at Invicta Division 5 and 6 (Women’s) and 6-9 (Men’s) level
- Teams could enter a higher tiered competition if they wish (recognising that a couple of our newer Kent Clubs are still finding their level up the pyramid).
- Matches played on Saturday’s, but with area league games and EH Championships given priority. Suggested dates:
- Round 1 – Saturday 17th September (although we note this is a league date for Women’s Division 6 – so teams could play a week earlier)
- Round 2 – Saturday 22nd October or Saturday 17th December (depending on EH Championships for some teams)
- Round 3 – Saturday 7th January (if required)
- Round 4 – Saturday 18th February
- Finals Day – Saturday 15th/Sunday 16th April
- Round 1 could be localised (east and west Kent) to reduce travelling in pre-season
Mixed
Continue the format of previous seasons, which proved successful in the first two seasons of competition:
- Played on Sunday’s throughout the season, with dates worked around EH Championships
- Initial group phase, with east/west Kent split, followed by semi-finals and final
- Players from National League squads are not eligible to play
Masters
We could look at changing this to a group phase followed by knockout rounds – a similar format to the Mixed.
We would welcome feedback, and ask as many Kent Clubs as possible to submit comments below – positive or negative.
We’ll look at responses by Sunday 31st July, and if there is sufficient interest, look to open entries to competitions the following week.