This year marks the 10th Anniversary of Lindum Hockey Club, who formed on Tuesday 23rd March 2015.
Club chairman Ben Smith said: “It’s been an amazing journey, since I have been here at the club.
“I arrived here in 2014. The conversations had been ongoing for some time before that between Lincoln Roses Hockey Club and Lincoln Hockey Club about whether to merge to form a stronger club.”
He said: “It went through a few false starts, but they finally got there in the end and finally merged in 2015, so I arrived just as it was happening.
“You can get a sense of how, yes there were challenges to begin with, naturally – two different clubs coming together, different personalities. You can see over those 10 years now, how the club has developed, everyone working together.
“The club’s come together stronger, you can see that in the number of teams we have now. Six mens teams, five ladies teams, an immensely strong junior team or junior section, with the development team as well, at all age groups.”
Ben said: “I think it was absolutely the right decision made by those people at the time, lots of effort put in by several key figures and I think they should consider themselves very proud of the vision they saw and where the club has now got to.
“Without the support of the fans, the parents, parents of fans – that’s what I believe is the core of the club, is the fans, the parents, the families, the community really.
“It’s a members club, run by members, for members. At the end of the day, without those people involved and that broader community, the club would not be where it is now.
“We have got a really strong junior section. The junior coaching side has been absolutely fantastic. We can see that the way our juniors have progressed up through the teams, they can see a clear pathway through the club.”
Lindum Hockey’s mens first team became the first Lincolnshire side to reach England hockey’s second tier last season, after back to back promotions in 2023 and 2024.
When asked about looking ahead to next season, following the club’s relegation from Division One North, the club’s chairman said: “We learnt a lot last season. We probably got to that league quicker than we originally thought we would, but the boys played incredibly well. We know what we need to do next time we get there.”
Ben said: “With the Mens Two’s being promoted, they become closer together, the two teams – that helps us develop some of the younger talent and it will help with crossover.
“Equally on the ladies side, Ladies Two’s have been promoted as well. Really strong development on the ladies side this year, with David Knowles coming in to lead the hockey on that side and Nat Mansfield.”
He said: “The future on both sides is seriously positive and equally with our development team, they have had such a season – it has been absolutely phenomenal.”
On the 23rd May Bank Holiday weekend, Lindum Sports Association host the Hockey and Beer Festival to mark the anniversary, with camping, live music, food, drink and 7s mixed hockey where teams can be entered to play.
The club’s Chairman said: “We decided, what better event to host our 10-year anniversary hockey festival as well.
“We have got quite a few teams registered now. It should be a really good weekend, hopefully the weather holds out.”
When reflecting on the 10 years as a whole, Ben said: “It is definitely the members. The support of the members’ families for example, especially with the kids and the parents. Without them, we don’t grow.
“We are a very open and friendly club, everybody is very welcome up here and it is great to see fans on the sidelines who are not necessarily members of the club.”
Mens first team club captain Louie Sadler said: “I’ve played for Lindum since it became a club. I grew up playing for Lincoln Hockey Club, since I was four years old. My dad played, my granddad played, so I have been part of the club all my life.
“At the end of the day, hockey is not a professional sport and it is massively run on volunteers and support that you get from being a family club.”
He said: “Playing hockey at a top level, you are always going out to win. You are never going to say we got promoted too soon at all.
“We proved this year with the results that we are good enough to play at that level – it is just super fine margins.
“We were perhaps somewhat naive this year at parts. I think if we had another crack at it then there is no reason why we can’t be fighting near the top of the division.
“I sit on the club’s committee, we have got some really good refreshing ideas that we are hoping to take into next year. We are hoping to get a few new people on the committee as well, we have got the club’s Annual General Meeting on Friday.”
On the Beer festival, Louis said: “We get lots of people come, not just members of the hockey club. We also have a squash club and cricket club and we also have people from the local community.
“Definitely very proud to represent the club, from when it was merged in 2015. My dad was a big part of the merging negotations – there is that real family connection. Going through the junior section, playing from Under-11s – it is really nice to represent the club I have been a part of my whole life and to be the first team captain.
“I am really proud of the way we have performed over the last year and a few of the lads representing England Over-35s this year, which is a real achievement. We have got those lads representing the county team this weekend, so pride is how I would sum it up.”
