'We can't wait to get back playing hockey again'
Both the men’s and women’s sections of the club have been unable to play thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, with league seasons declared null and void in the process.
For Chesterfield men’s first team, that meant a rather shortened debut season in the MRHA Division One following promotion in 2019/20, although Battye was pleased with the progress being made.
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Hide AdHe said: “We’d only managed to play five games and suffered with the government’s tier system as a lot of players based literally down the road in Yorkshire couldn’t play for us, but our last match was a really good 4-2 win that could have been a lot more comfortable, and we were just starting to hit a sweet spot in terms of finding our feet in the division and pushing on.
"So it’s frustrating that it was brought to a halt but it was the same all round and we now can finally look to the future once again.”
A restructure of hockey leagues across the country has now seen Chesterfield placed in a new regional premier league which stretches more to the north east of the country – a promotion in terms of where the league is in the tier system and with some long trips to places like Durham and Leeds included.
Battye said: “We’ll be up against some very strong sides as we’ll be playing in the fourth tier but we’ll experience new venues, new officials and so on, which will be enjoyable.
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