Information about hockey clubs and hockey facilities in Norwich and Norfolk will be posted here.
Hockey is a popular sport in Norwich; the Norwich City Hockey Club and the Norwich Dragons Hockey Club are the two main hockey clubs in the area. Norwich City Hockey Club was created as a merger between Norfolk Wanderers and the Norfolk Grasshoppers in 1990. The men’s club than merged with the women’s hockey club, then called the Norwich Argonauts. The mergers were an attempt to improve and heighten the profile of hockey in the Norfolk area. Norwich City Hockey Club now has five men’s teams, four ladies teams, junior and colt teams and a men’s veteran’s team. A mixed side represents the team in many mixed tournaments throughout the year. The Norfolk Pies team plays at midweek and at hockey festivals during the summer months.
Training sessions and mini-hockey sessions occur throughout the week. There are mini-hockey sessions for under eleven year olds. They also host umpiring courses for potential hockey umpires. A club kit is available to buy and there are social events like a recent horse racing evening event to take part in.
The Norwich Dragons Hockey Club has just moved to a new location in the heart of Norwich after being without a ground for three seasons. The new ground, called the Dragon’s Den is from Hewett School leased land. The club has three women’s teams and three men’s teams ranging in ability from beginners to pros. They play in the East Men’s Division and the women play in the East Women’s Division and the Norfolk Division.
The club welcomes new members of any ability. Training pre-season begins in July and August and the season runs throughout the winter months. There are match fees and a team’s strip is available to buy. A youth section is coached by qualified coaches and sometimes the adults team members help out to help players improve their hockey skills. Wearing shin guards, waterproof clothing and trainers is essential. Mixed hockey seasons usually start in May. The mixed league is run by the Norwich Dragons and is run in the summer months. The league is ten years old and every time twelve to sixteen teams take part. All members of the club are expected to take part. The club also runs its own social events.
There are plans to build a new hockey Astro pitch in the centre of Norwich by 2011 and the Norwich Dragons have been holding fundraising events with this aim for some time now. Another sport that has a good fan base in Norwich is ice hockey. The Norsemen in Norwich and the Spartans are two ice hockey teams that play in Norwich. The Spartans play at the Ice Experience rink and the Norsemen play at Planet Ice rink. Both teams are registered with the English Ice Hockey Association and are recreational teams. There is even a hockey roller team that currently play at Sprowston High School and have been doing so for three years. Their aim is to introduce as many youngsters, girls and boys, as possible to the sport and the club was awarded a National Lottery Grant to help with this aim.
