Code of Conduct

This code applies to all members, both senior and junior.

All disciplinary action shall be administered by the relevant team captain in the first instance and overseen by the appropriate Club Captain.

Players shall have the right of appeal to the Management Committee in accordance with the club Complaints Policy, so far as this does not conflict with Hockey Association Rules.

All club members are expected to conduct themselves in an appropriate manner at all times, both on the pitch and pitch side.

Players guilty of persistent abusing of umpires will be penalised most severely.

Any member guilty of verbal or physical abuse to any other player will be dealt with most severely.

The recipient of a red card or a permanent suspension from the game shall receive a suspension as stipulated for that category of offence by the Hockey Association. Red card offences in League matches will also be subject to the provisions of the League rules. In addition, extended periods, imposed by the Club, are at the discretion of the Management Committee. Day 1 of the suspension will be the day of the offence.

The recipient of three yellow cards or temporary suspensions in a season shall receive a 9-day suspension, and a further 9-day suspension for each subsequent yellow card or temporary suspension. Day 1 of a suspension will be the date of the offence. Yellow card offences in League matches will be subject to the provisions of the League rules.

A player failing to meet his/her playing commitments (including dropping out at short notice) without reasonable cause may not be selected for the next fixture.

Players not available through personal choice may be selected in a lower team for the following fixture, unless the selection committee deems that this is not in the best interests of the Club.

Strictly no use of mobile phones or cameras in changing room areas.

Fixtures

We have set down a few guiding principles to ensure that the pitches and home pushback times are allocated fairly across the club.

The overall aim is so that no one team is consistently starting early or late.

The Ladies 1^st XI and Men’s 1^st XI home games should be played in either the 1pm or 2.30pm slots.

We give consideration to the distance our opposition has to travel and the likely availability of our limited pool of umpires.

We will give each of the lower teams a spread of pushback times over a season (subject to how the fixtures across the club fall).  As the 10am and 4.30pm slots are the most likely to be cancelled, these will tend to be allocated to the Ladies 4^th XI and Men’s 3^rd XI.

In case of bad weather, members should contact their team captain, or in an emergency their club captain, one hour before the start time for the game.  Messages will usually be posted on the team What’s app group as soon as a decision has been made whether the match will go ahead or be postponed.

All players are expected to turn up ready to play unless they have informed that the match has been cancelled.

Membership

The Management Committee will set the club membership fees (subs) in advance of each new season.

These will include a full adult membership plus a range of concessions:

• Student
• Over 65’s
• Under 18’s
• Unemployed
• Goal-keepers
• Associate – for players who train or play for 6 games or fewer in the season

A Family rate exists to encourage more than one adult or more than one child in a family members to play for the club.

Everyone taking part in either training or matches are expected to have paid their subs by the 30^th September of the season.

A person may pay their subs in instalments on 30^th September, 31^st October, and 30^th November.

Late payment will mean a person cannot play until monies have been received as the player is not insured to play.

Payments of subs should be done via bank transfer to the Welwyn Garden City Hockey Club account, using the links provided on the club website.

New players joining the club after 30^th September should pay their subs within three weeks of their first match or training session, or by instalments (see above).

The Club Captain’s should make a report to the Management Committee at the October meeting identifying any players who have not paid their membership fees.

The Club Captain’s should make a report to the Management Committee at the December or January meeting identifying any players who have not completed the instalments on their membership fees.

Privacy

The club is committed to respecting your privacy.

We may collect the following personal data from you:

• Personal information (name, date of birth, gender, address, contact information)
• Bank account information
• Membership information
• Family information (emergency contact details, next of kin)
• Sensitive personal data including medical and health information

The club uses this information for the following purposes:

• To facilitate you becoming a member of the club
• To manage the membership of the club and to enable us to collect and process membership fees, including information required to facilitate the payment of membership fees to third party companies
• To provide information required by third party organisations including England Hockey, and the leagues in which the club participates
• To provide information required for insurance policies
• To provide information about fixtures, match changes and cancellations
• To organise social events
• To include information on the club website to promote the club and attract new members.

Photography & Streaming

The club follows guidance from England Hockey on Photography and Streaming.  In summary:

Photographs or video might be taken, for example, to celebrate significant moments or results, to promote the club, as part of a school or college assignment or for coaching or skills development.  The club is committed to protect all players, and especially young players, from inappropriate or uninformed use and the interests and welfare of young people taking part in hockey is paramount.

We will seek to protect the identity of young people when using images on websites, social media etc, by ensuring that no personal details of the young person are connected to an image.

When completing the membership subscription all players (and guardians for Under 18’s) are asked for consent for the taking of photos and videos.

Team captains and committee members will be made aware (in confidence) of the names of any players where such permission has not been given, in order to ensure that they do not appear in photographs taken on behalf of the club.

If photographs or video may involve the opposition team, we will seek permission from the opposing captain beforehand.  We should explain the reason for our request, the purpose for filming or recording, how the images will be used, and what will happen to the images after use.

In line with England Hockey guidance, we would also expect the opposition to ask permission of our team captain before filming or taking photographs involving our players.

If any photos or videos are taken on behalf of the club, we should ensure that the individual is aware of this policy.

If we become aware of spectators or others taking photos or videos of players then we should make them aware of this policy.

If any photos or video that might be taken on behalf of our club or the opposition could include players who have not given permission, then photos or video CANNOT be taken.  Failure to abide by this policy, may require the club committee to report the matter to England Hockey.

If any club member becomes aware of any inappropriate use of images then this should be reported to the club Welfare Officer.

For full details of the England Hockey guidance on Photography and streaming, go to www.englandhockey.co.uk/governance.

Data Protection

The club is committed to ensuring that all personal and sensitive information is handled fairly and lawfully and with due regard to basic confidentiality, dignity and respect.

Some of your personal data may be transferred to third parties who provide services to the club, including companies who collect membership fees.

The club takes reasonable precautions to ensure that such companies comply with data privacy regulations. In addition, the club takes precautions to ensure the security of any data that is held by it via the club website or online systems.

You have a number of rights available to you under the GDPR. These include the right to access data, the right of erasure and the right to be forgotten. Some of these rights are subject to the club’s legitimate interests, and legal/regulatory obligations.

If you have any questions about this privacy notice please contact secretary@wgchockeyclub.co.uk

Reporting of Concerns

Welwyn Garden City Hockey Club is a family friendly club, and we wish for all members to enjoy their hockey in a safe and welcoming environment which is at the heart of our club.

The aim of this policy is to provide a fair and clear procedure for anyone wishing to raise concerns and to make sure that all concerns are managed in a fair and timely manner.

Please note that if you have safeguarding concerns with relation to a young person or adult, then the safeguarding procedure should be followed – Child Protection Policy | Welwyn Garden City Hockey Club

Stage 1

If you would like to raise a concern about anything that has occurred before, during, or after a match and feel like your complaint or concern cannot be resolved directly with any persons concerned, the first port of call will be to raise it with your Team captain. If your concern is about your captain, you should raise this with your Club Captain.

The Team captain will report any complaints or concerns to the respective Club Captain.

If you raise your concern with your Team Captain and feel it has not been resolved, this should be raised with your Club Captain.

 Stage 2

If you feel that your concern has not been resolved within Stage 1, you can direct your concerns to the Chairman of the committee  chairman@wgchockeyclub.co.uk

If your concern relates to an under 18, please ensure that Welfare Officer – child.welfare@wgchockeyclub.co.uk

Where necessary, we may seek advice in confidence from England Hockey.

Safety and Equipment

Our primary aim is to keep all players safe while playing hockey, however recognise that hockey is a physical game played with a hard ball!

We encourage all players to take steps to ensure their own safety by having appropriate equipment including shin pads and gum shields.  Along with England Hockey, we strongly advise that these are worn.

The club will also provide face masks to be worn at penalty corners and encourage defending players to use these, in accordance with England Hockey guidance.

Part of each player’s membership paid via the club annual subs to England Hockey provides insurance cover for accidents or injuries during games and training.  This might be invalidated if a player is not wearing appropriate safety equipment.

The goal-keeper’s role on the pitch is unique in that it requires additional protective clothing.   This can be an additional burden for players who take up this role and such equipment is personal to each player e.g. size/brand etc.  Recognising this, the club has a discounted annual subscription rate which is less than the standard rate for an outfield player.  This is to subsidise goal-keepers to fund their own protective equipment.

For part time goal-keepers or players who want to try the position the club has access to a selection of used equipment that is available for any player to use.

Injuries

The club will aim to ensure that someone on all teams has attended a First aid training course so is able to assist with minor injuries.  Player selection may mean this is not always possible.

In the event of an accident or injury during hockey games or training, the player should seek medical help if required (emergency services, 111 or GP).

Reporting

The following injuries should be recorded by the team captain as soon as practicable on ‘Sport Smart’, a partnership between England Hockey and Podium Analytics, used to track and provide guidance on hockey injuries.

Any player:

• who is removed from the field of play as a result of injury
• who reports an injury immediately after the session (after changing etc)
• who reports an injury, sustained in hockey, that prevents them taking part in other activities (i.e. if a player contacts the coach or club captain to tell them a niggle/ injury has now stopped them doing other sport or activity)
• who reports an injury, sustained in hockey, that required some form of medical intervention from a practitioner

For players under 18 years, the team captain should make contact with parents or guardians to make them aware of the nature of the injury sustained.

Blood injuries

Under league rules, “Composition of teams” rule 2.7:

“A player who is injured or bleeding must leave the field unless medical reasons prevent this and must not return until wounds have been covered; players must not wear blood-stained clothing”.

In addition for home fixtures, the team captain should contact the University of Herts Sports Village staff to ensure that any blood is cleaned from the surface of the pitch before play continues.

This should be enforced by the umpires if necessary.

Concussion

Concussion can have significant long-term impacts on someone’s life and must be taken extremely seriously by everyone in the club to safeguard the long-term welfare of players.

Our policy follows the Concussion Policy of England Hockey, which can be found here: Hockey Concussion Policy Nov 2018 v2

In summary …

“All players with a diagnosed concussion must be removed from the field of play and not return to play or train on the same day. Players with a diagnosed concussion must go through a graduated return to play program (GRTP).

All players with a suspected concussion where no appropriately trained healthcare professionals are present, must be assumed to have a diagnosed concussion and must be removed from the field of play and not return to play or train on the same day. In this circumstance it is preferred that the player is assessed at the earliest available opportunity by a healthcare professional experienced in diagnosing a concussive injury”.

In practice this means that unless cleared by a trained healthcare professional, any WGC HC player who suffers a head injury should be taken off the pitch – and should not return to play in that game.  This is for their welfare.

The team captain should ensure this is policy is applied.  If at home, our club umpires should ensure that the captain has applied this policy and if necessary not permit the player to return to play.

As this is not a league rule, the umpires cannot enforce the policy on opposing teams.  However our umpires should encourage the opposing captain to remove the player and not return to play unless cleared by a trained health professional.

We should refer any player who suffers a concussion injury to the Sport Smart Concussion Recovery Guidance to assist them in their recovery and return to play.

Selection

Our aim is to provide all players with competitive and enjoyable hockey, where players who wish to develop can improve their skills and play at their best level.

Selection is undertaken by the Team Captains and appropriate Club Captain for the Men’s/Open section or Women’s section.

Where any disagreement remains, the Club Captain has the final say.

The club will seek to field the best available team with priority given to the team in the higher league (so starting with the 1^st XI, then the 2^nd XI, 3^rd XI and 4^th XI in turn).

Teams will be selected on merit, to ensure that the team is competitive in the games concerned.

Wherever possible we will seek to develop young players and provide them with appropriate opportunities.

Players who have been unavailable should not expect to be automatically selected for the team they previously played for.

Returning players (e.g. from maternity leave or after a break from the club) will be supported to work back towards their previous playing level.

Where a squad of players is available, the squad will usually be limited to 14 players for any match to ensure that all players get a good amount of game time.

If some players are therefore rested, selection for the next game will be done on a rotation basis.

Consideration will be given to family members who wish to play together, but this will be balanced against fairness, competitiveness, and the overall best interests of the club.

The Team Captain will decide on the rotation of players for each game, depending on the players available, strength of the opposition, physical fitness, disruption caused by rotation, and opportunities to develop young players.

Team Captains will communicate clearly with players about performance and the reasons behind selection decisions, including when a player is rotated or moved to a lower team. This ensures transparency and maintains competitiveness across all teams.

Social Media

Whatever we post on social media, whether intended for our family and friends or a wider audience, is open to the world.

WGC HC wants all its members to enjoy playing hockey, keeping in touch and sharing great stories.  However, just like when playing, members also need to respect others when using social media.

The club has identified the following simple guidelines when commenting on-line about hockey matters:

• be transparent: Use your real name, identify that you play for WGC HC
• be truthful: Do not make stuff up, write what you know about, don’t gossip
• be yourself: Stick to what you know. Do not comment on behalf of WGC HC
• don’t tell secrets: We all know when to keep quiet, so do the same on-line
• don’t belittle the competition (or WGC HC): Play nice. Anything you publish should be true, not misleading or embarrassing
• don’t over share: Be careful out there—once you hit “share,” you usually can’t get it back
• be respectful: Only refer to other people if you have their permission to do so; and no swearing or rude words
• and remember our Code of Conduct applies as much to social media as it does to your behaviour on the pitch.

The club hopes all our members can follow these simple guidelines and use all the

latest social media tools, applications and programmes to have fun.

Summer Hockey

For many of our players, the summer is chance to take some time off hockey.  For others it’s a chance to continue to play in warmer weather and perhaps a slightly more low key environment; maybe try a new position or practice some skills.

In recent years we have occasionally entered teams into several summer leagues:

Old & Bold Mixed competition at Letchworth HC – as the name suggests this is aimed at older and younger players, especially from lower teams.  It’s a great chance to develop and gain experience of adult hockey.  We aim to select sides that are competitive while adhering to the spirit of the competition and giving experience to as many players as we can.  And where possible we will use these games to give a first taste of adult hockey to members of our youth development squads.

Men’s and Momen’s competitions at Broxbourne HC – these tend to be a higher standard so teams will typically be selected from higher teams subject to availability.

And while the summer leagues are competitive they are also less serious than the winter leagues, so can also be an opportunity for new umpires to experience higher level games in a reduced pressure environment.

Trans & Non-Binary Participation Policy

WGC HC is an inclusive club that welcomes anyone who wishes to play hockey.

On trans and non-binary matters we are bound by the policy of England Hockey which was amended from 1st September 2025.

Under this policy, all league hockey played by WGC HC now falls into two categories, a Female category and an Open category.

Female category: – Participants recorded female at birth which includes trans men who have not undergone or are not undergoing gender-affirming hormone therapy.

Once a trans man or non-binary participant (whose birth sex is recorded as female) has either commenced or completed gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) then they will no longer be eligible to participate in the Female category.

Open category: – This category is open to all including those participants recorded male at birth, recorded female at birth (irrespective of whether they have ever commenced or completed gender-affirming hormone therapy), and those who identify as trans or non-binary.

Trans participants aged 11 or under may compete in the gender they identify as. Once a trans girl becomes 12, they will be unable to compete in the Female category. To be eligible to compete in the Female category in Under-12 competitions (or older), a trans girl must be 10 or under on 31 August preceding the season of participation.

This policy relates to league competitions.  All players are welcome to training.

We recognise that this is sensitive information and as such will treat player gender with the strictest confidence and only shared on a need-to-know basis, respecting at all times the participants right to privacy.

You can find the full text of the England Hockey Trans & Non-Binary Participation Policy here.