At Bowdon Hockey Club, we have a thriving Junior Section at primary age and are keen to inspire a love of hockey amongst boys and girls of all ages. The focus is on encouraging participation whilst developing skills and helping peer groups to develop and play together. We broadly split ages into two groups:
BOWDON MINIS (RECEPTION – YEAR 3)
Bowdon Minis run as small, coach-led group training sessions with specific equipment, games and drills to help children to build up the basic skills required for hockey in a fun and enjoyable way. We aim to offer flexibility so this age can try hockey without a full season commitment. They train on Sunday mornings from 9.30 to 10.45am, Sept to early July.
BOWDON BEARS (YEARS 4-6)
The Bowdon Bears Academy enables the further development of skills whilst introducing gameplay to introduce juniors to playing small-sided matches. This a seasonal commitment as children will become part of age group squads and start to play games, which needs consistency of players in order for them to develop and grow. We appreciate that some children may not be able to make both training sessions every week.
Training
Training is twice a week and split to enable U10 and U12 age groups to train together whilst keeping peer groups together.
Year 4 & 5
Sundays 10.45am – 12.15: skills-based training at the main club ‘wet pitch’ running from early Sept to early July
AND/OR
Fridays 5 – 6.30pm: U10 age group squad training, GK training and gameplay at the main club ‘wet pitch’ from early Sept – Easter
Year 6
As an England Hockey Talent Centre, we are evolving training to focus on core skills and develop each individual player. Therefore from this year, all year 6s are invited to train with year 7-9s in our Hockey Foundations Technical Skills training, which is overseen by Connor Jameson and led by members of our performance 1st and 2nd adult teams.
Sundays 9.45 – 11.15am: skills based training with year 7s at the Altrincham Girls Grammar pitch ‘Devisdale’ off The Firs/Bowdon Road
2023 training: 24th September, 8th, 15th, 29th October, 5th, 19th, 26th November, 3rd, 17th December
(Note no training on 1, 22 October, 12 November, 10 December)
2024 training: 7th, 14th, 21st January, 11th February, 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th March
(Note no training on 28 January, 4, 18, 25 February)
AND/OR
Fridays 5 – 6.30pm: U12 age group squad training, GK training and gameplay at the main club ‘wet pitch’ from early Sept – Easter
Gameplay
Friendly matches, tournaments and Greater Manchester Junior Hockey League (GMJHL) games are also arranged for some Sundays. These are for U8s (mixed), U10s and U12s (mostly all boys/all girls). The U12s also involve some year 7s.
GMJHL competition dates
U8s: Sunday 8 October, Sunday 12 November 2023, Sunday 4 February, Sunday 3 March 2024
U10s: Sunday 15 October, Sunday 5 and 19 November, Sunday 10 December 2023; Sunday 21 January, Sunday 11 February 2024.
U12s: Sunday 1 October, Sunday 29 October, Sunday 26 November 2023, Sunday 14 January, Sunday 28 January,
Sunday 24 March 2024. See the Secondary age hockey page for more information.
Fees
Bowdon Minis operates on 6-week bookable blocks with half-termly payments of £42 covering 6 weeks (£7 per week, prorated if you join us mid-block).
Bowdon Bears operate on an annual training fee of £240, collected in 5 instalments of £48 (prorated if joining during the year).
Players in Bowdon Bears also need to be members of the overall Bowdon Cricket Hockey & Squash Club as they will be representing the club competitively in matches; their membership fee currently is £41. If your child already plays Cricket or Squash at Bowdon, they may already be members as one club membership covers all 3 sports.
Bowdon Bears pay match fees of £5 per competitive game played; these match fees cover entrance fees to leagues and competitions, pitch hire. We do not expect any more than 10 matches in a season.
KIT
As kids grow fast, don’t worry too much about kit! The only essentials are shin pads and gum shields for years 5 and 6 or anyone playing games. They are highly recommended for younger children, especially if they have adult teeth.
Long black or red socks, black shorts or skort and a white, red or black top are fine at this age but official kit is optional. We will look to hold preloved kit sales during the season – look out for more information. As they get older and more committed, Bowdon kit and playing equipment can be bought from the Y1 shop next to the main pitch.
HOW TO JOIN
Children are welcome to come and try out a session free of charge: they can borrow a stick and just need shin pads, hand sanitiser, a small first aid kit and a water bottle.
We have a limited number of places and waiting lists in some age groups so all trials must be booked by emailing [email protected].