Two years ago I joined Bedford Hockey Club and was overwhelmed with how friendly everyone was and how welcoming you were to a 40 something year old woman who hadn’t played hockey for a very long time. Over those 2 years I have played for the ladies 4s and VETS, made a lot of friends, helped out with the juniors and had some of the 1s and 2s run rings round me as I try my hand at summer league.

BHC really is a wonderful club and has so many things going for it – the key questions are can we make it better? And if so, how?

The reason I want to run for chairman is because one of the areas I have a lot of experience in is working with companies and boards to bring separate divisions together under one strategy – and after speaking to many of you it is clear that there is a real desire to have the mens, womens, juniors and VETS working together to create one vision which will help BHC adapt and grow for the future.

We have challenges ahead as a club – not least of which is funding the replacement of our pitches and the much needed refurbishment of the clubhouse. If we look at Bedford Rugby club we can see some of what can be done with the help of corporate sponsorship, and whilst we have a great new sponsor in Bedford Consulting Rooms we need to expand this out to help fund new kit for the juniors, extra coaching time for the senior teams, and the basics that are needed for all of us to have a great training session – you know, bibs and balls and maybe enough ice packs for all our bumps and bruises!

The cost of refurbishment will be our greatest infrastructure challenge, and this is where my sales background can come into play. I hope to use this experience to help pitch some of the larger corporates to help us with our journey.

A goal would also be to have the resources and funds to hopefully establish a junior outreach programme where we can work with some of the kids from the more deprived areas in Bedford and uncover some hockey superstars of the future.

There is so much we could do if we work as one team and tap into the talent, the ideas and the willingness to get involved of so many of our members.

Everyone who knows me will say that I am definitely not lacking energy and enthusiasm. Hopefully you will give me the chance to bring that drive and energy into helping BHC achieve it’s full potential.

Regards,

Cheryl Harding

VOTE here (club members only) http://www.bedfordhockeyclub.com/polls