HNNL February 2005 page 4
The Hook Norton Village Newsletter
February 2005 Series 30 No 1

Sports


NEWS FROM THE SPORTS AND SOCIAL CLUB
First of all, Happy New Year to you all! The Sports & Social Club had its AGM in November 2004. The new committee would like to take this opportunity to thank Paul Pickering and his committee for their hard work and dedication and indeed, their continued support.
2004 was an extremely exciting year for the Club with the construction of a new football pitch and three new floodlit tennis courts. 2005 promises to be equally so. A tremendous start to the year has been the opening of the new Multi Use Games Area (MUGA).
This floodlit area is a marvellous addition to the Club's facilities and for the village as a whole. It will enable many of the activities that have had to hire facilities outside the village to take place 'at home'. New sports such as hockey, netball and basketball can be accommodated and the Club aims to develop partnership initiatives with local organisations to bring even more opportunities to the community.
Anyone interested in helping to organise new activities on the MUGA or at the Club, particularly for the young people of the village, is encouraged to contact the Club, initially through Chris Rothwell or Nancy Hawkins. At a cost of £50,000, funded through Sport England, Cherwell District Council and Club fundraising, this facility is available to hire by members of the Club. As membership is open to everyone in the village this means that you can benefit…the MUGA is great for Children's Sports Parties!
It is children that make up the largest group of Club members, playing football, tennis, cricket and running and it is vital to keep this going for them. The Club isn't subsidised by the local authority and is entirely responsible for paying its way, something that is becoming increasingly hard to do. The only way for the Club to keep going is for more people to become members and utilise the facilities…so, why not take out Social membership… at just £15 for the year you will be helping the Club to finance the facilities for community benefit.
Membership also means you can hire the Clubhouse for private functions and come to live music and social events, bringing guests with you.
We have arranged two fantastic evenings of entertainment, the first being (by popular demand) THE TOMCATS, a fantastic band with our very own Dwyer Scullion on guitar. This will take place on 26th February at 8pm. Tickets are £5 per person and are available NOW! (Contact details below)
Secondly, we have the Slade tribute band called SLYDE; this night is being hosted by the Senior Football Club and promises to be a lot of fun! So come and sing along with 'Noddy' and the crew. This event will take place on 19th March and tickets are £10 per person. (Contact details below). Hope to see you all there!
In 2005 the Club hopes to start on construction of the New Clubhouse. More funds are still required towards a facility that will cost over £1/3 million.
…And there is more to come….
A grant of £7,000 from the Oxfordshire Community Foundation will see a new sports wall and surface constructed. This will be completed by March.
Consideration is also be given to other new facilities including petanque, boules and outdoor skittles, so that summer evenings can be enjoyed by all the family at the Club.
The new Club Committee are actively seeking volunteers to help build on the Club's success. Whether you have only an hour a month or can commit regular time each week, the Club would like to hear from you.
A reminder that the Saturday morning car wash is again operational between 9.00 am and 11.30 am. Help to raise funds and get a clean car in return! You can even get a cup of hot chocolate and a bacon roll and watch the youngsters playing football, or read your paper in the clubhouse. If you have any questions, or wish to hire the club or the MUGA please contact Nancy Hawkins, Social secretary via email at nancy.hawkins@hookie.fslife.co.uk
Joint Chairman: Mike Barlow Duncan Collins; Secretary: Geoff 'Jesse' James
Treasurer: Colin Scarrett


HOOK NORTON HARRIERS
2005 is the 21st anniversary of the Harriers being founded and we are still going strong! We meet at 7pm on Tuesday evenings at the Sports and Social club. On any night there are between 10 to 20 members of all sizes and abilities. We split into several groups which run at various speeds and distances; anything from a jog for a couple of miles to a speedier 6 -8miles. In the winter we stick to the roads in the village, in the summer on the roads and footpaths in the countryside around.
As usual we will be hosting the county road relays in the Spring and will hold the "Hooky 6" six mile race in August with some special anniversary prizes and give-aways.
If you fancy a run with us just turn up on any Tuesday: all welcome."
John Weaver


HOOK NORTON FOOTBALL CLUB – SENIOR SECTION
When I was recently asked for the names and addresses of this season's Football Club members, I found some interesting statistics. No less than 20 of the 41 players who are regularly involved with one or both of our senior teams either live in the immediate area of Hook Norton or, otherwise, have strong connections with the Village. Of the remaining 21 players, all of them, with the exception of one player, whose home is at Bicester, live no further away than Banbury. Accordingly, I now hope this puts the record straight for those who have, in the past, levelled criticism at the Club in this respect; I suspect our composition of local members compares very favourably with those of the Village's other organisations and, probably in some cases, exceeds them! What's more, no less than 16 of the above members are under 21 years of age and, of those 16 young players, four of them are just 16 years of age and all four, at some stage in the season so far, have played in the First Team. What a testament this is to the prudence and value of our merger with the Junior Football Section and of our ever developing youth policy. Take it from me, this Club is on the right tracks and, with your help, support and encouragement, will become an even greater ambassador for the Village than it has been hitherto.
On the field of play, whilst performances have been encouraging, our results have been rather inconsistent. The First Team, whose performances have been adversely affected by serious injuries to key players (including the long serving Garnet Thomas), is presently placed in a comfortable mid table position and the target remains as a 'top six' spot by the time we reach the season's end. At the time of writing, our appetite is being whetted by the imminent prospect of the team facing Chipping Norton Town in the 3rd Round of the Senior Cup, here, on our own Ground at The Bourne. What a coup it would be if we could manage to 'turn over' our close rivals in this local derby game and, thereby, progress further in this prestigious Competition!
The Second Team, meanwhile, are unfortunately the 'basement boys' in their division. Despite plucky performances by this very young and inexperienced team, they are presently devoid of that little bit of know-how and luck which can make the difference between grabbing vital points or otherwise. Like their Management Team, I have few doubts that there will not be an improvement by the time that we reach the beginning of May.
As I write this article, like the rest of the Club and many others in the Village, I am thrilled by the recent completion and opening of the new Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) which will be a tremendous asset to our training needs. We are grateful to the Project Team and others who have been involved in or otherwise contributed to this marvellous facility. With this development and others in mind, I am truly excited for the future of our Club. I just wish I was 40 years younger!
Geoff 'Jesse' James, Club Secretary