South Berkshire and RC Jolaseta have been named the joint 2024 EuroHockey Club of the Year, celebrating their work in developing hockey in England and Spain, respectively.
For South Berkshire, it has been a transformative couple of years as new agreements with their local landlord has secured the club’s long-term future, allowing them scope to commit to a range of new projects.
This has grown their umpire base, founded a Walking Hockey section and made significant growth in their playing membership in a short period of time.
For Jolaseta, a unique Family Values programme is aimed at promoting a holistic growth to their players and community, using sport as the tool to help nurture character. The family ethos is central to their “mamis and papis” programme.
“It’s a real honour to receive this award, and amazing to see the hard work of our volunteers recognised in such a special way!” says South Berkshire Hockey Club chairman Peter Forbes.
“Their continued efforts have the club making real progress season to season and South Berks could not function without them.
“This grant money will help pay for new dugouts at the club, one of several long-term projects we’re looking to complete to help ensure our continued success and be the best club we can be – we’re very excited to see what the future holds. Thank you EuroHockey for your kind recognition of our progress!”
From Jolaseta’s side, the club’s hockey manager Joan Fitó says: “We are very proud to receive this award. Daily effort is essential, and this recognition encourages us to keep working with the same passion.
“Hockey is a key part of Jolaseta’s social and sporting life, and we will continue to support its growth.”
Reflecting on the two winning entries, EuroHockey development committee member Peter Elders said: “Maybe the name of the contest should better be ‘more than just a club award’ as both winners show that in these days it is awarding to be more than just the classic hockey club.
“Members and non-members are attracted to a variety of possibilities apart from the steady base of hockey.”
Fellow committee member Cathelijne Rockall added: “We invite more clubs from all around Europe to show the rest of their hockey friends how special they are, beyond being good at playing hockey. Feel free to join the next edition of the contest!”
As EuroHockey Club of the Year, both clubs will receive a €1,000 prize with the nominations for 2025 opening up later this year.
** Find out more about the two winning clubs below **
South Berkshire (England)
For South Berkshire, the prize comes at a time of big change, building on their 2023 ClubMark which was a catalyst to secure their long-term future with landlords Wokingham Borough Council.
They were able to negotiate themselves to being a “key partner” of the borough, bringing with it a new 14-year clubhouse lease as well as a 20% reduction in pitch costs. These deals combined have secured long-term feasibility at the club’s current location and reduced pitch costs by £10k a year. Permission has recently been granted to build bespoke hockey dugouts, and a full clubhouse rejuvenation is underway.
With a more secure future sorted, developing umpiring culture has been a focus, forming a young umpires group to encourage junior participation; microphone packs have been purchased for this purpose while umpire coaching sessions have been run for adults courtesy of South Central Officiating.
The club also waived match fees for each game umpired as an additional incentive. These factors encouraged eight new umpires to pass their Level One umpire’s assessment.
Progress was also made in welfare culture, with all junior-facing leadership and coaches now DBS checked (78 total members) with an increased emphasis on injury reporting, and mental health first-aider training completed by several committee members.
To reach a wider community, Walking Hockey was established and has attracted regular attendance from new members. South Berks also led hockey sessions at the local “festival of inclusivity” for children with physical and learning disabilities.
In February 2024, formal disability inclusion training was attended by key volunteers with the aspiration of offering regular Flyerz hockey (Hockey ID) in the future.
South Berks has an ethos of offering defined hockey that’s relevant to its’ members. To meet demand “social” men’s teams were formally recognised, appealing both to new and returning members. After debuting in 2023, the popularity of Back2Hockey has continued to grow and is now an every Summer occurrence, delivering many adult players to play their first league hockey.
Performance teams have been made more accessible to juniors through the reinforcement of club development pathways, combined with performance coaches being promoted from within to encourage continuity and pathway awareness.
To assist development of all players, specialist goalkeeper coaching has been introduced, and camera equipment was purchased to give all teams access to video analysis.
A first team shirt sponsor was also found to fund an extra performance training session a week. These decisions helped the club achieve and maintain dual regional Premier Division status for both its Men and Women for the first time.
Several cup competitions were also entered for the first time – including the England Hockey Mixed Cup requiring the formation of a Mixed XI. Cup highlights include an oversees trip to the island of Jersey for the Men’s 1st XI, and reaching the last 16 of the national mixed cup. This is now a point of pride for the club, and they look forward to making more cup memories in future seasons.
These factors have all helped contribute to a 13% increase in adult membership.
Bottlenecks were removed in the junior section too, allowing for expanded sessions leading to a 15% increase in junior members. Total membership grew by 45 paying members.
The season concluded with an End of Season dinner selling out 175 tickets, demonstrating the club to be in good health both on and off the pitch.
Real Club Jolaseta (Spain)
Real Club Jolaseta’s nomination for the awards is grounded in its unwavering commitment to fostering values through sports and its innovative approach to social responsibility.
The “Jolaseta, Family of Values” program, a collaboration with DalecandELA (a non-profit organisation whose goal is to raise funds into research into the fight against ALS), shows the club’s dedication to nurturing character development alongside athletic performance.
The values worked on in the programme with the athletes are: respect, teamwork, discipline, overcoming and passion. Each value is focused on in the club’s youth section for a month and a half.
The club itself was founded in 1933 and located in Neguri (Getxo), and is part of a social club in Biscay with over 7,500 members, making it the second-largest club in the region.
Known for its rich history and commitment to sports, the club excels in tennis, field hockey, roller hockey and padel, while also offering inclusive social activities like swimming and fitness.
The club’s achievements in hockey stand out with two men’s teams and one women’s team competing in Spain’s National Division of Honor. It is also renowned for nurturing Olympic talent having trained 12 Olympians like Rocío Ybarra, Maria Lopez de Eguilaz and José Basterra.
A true community hub, RC Jolaseta champions inclusivity and lifelong learning in sports. Its hockey program alone engages over 450 youth players, 85 senior athletes, and 58 participants in its innovative “mamis and papis” hockey initiative for adults over 35 with no prior experience.
This family-oriented ethos and dedication to excellence embody the spirit of RC Jolaseta, making it a deserving winner for Club of the Year.
