A week to go before league matches start. From last weekend, Flett's Fledglings, the Women's 2s, are first out the traps with a super report below from a weekend where the sun shone at Tuddenham and over 200 sausages were cooked! Thank to you to everyone who helped on both Saturday and Sunday, some familiar faces and some new ones, but thank you to all of you, and especially those who stayed around for a beer or 2 to support.

This Saturday's matches are listed below and there are a lot of games including a women's 6th XI game; a team we'll try and get as many friendlies for as we can with the aim of it becoming a permanent fixture in our XIs. Sunday will also see a busy schedule with our U14 girls 2nd team (yes, juniors continue to grow) taking on Braintree.

Pre-season has been very hard work this year - club house work, new coaches, changes at ISC, more matches to fit in than ever before on our one pitch and a more juniors than ever. Take a moment on Saturday to say thank you to your coach, your captain or the committee - so much work goes on to get 100s of players on the pitch every week:

• Membership, no excuses, please sign up before the season starts on Friday, if you are unsure what to do please email membership@ipswichsports.co.uk

• We're aware as we head into the start of the season that we're trying new things and not everything will work - if you've got ideas for improvements please do speak to anyone on the committee who will be happy to listen.

• We've a new oven installed at Tuddenham that will be operational for the 1st league games of the season but we're still without outside catering due to changes at ISC; bear with us, as we try and establish a setup that will work and I expect we'll be looking for a bit more help from members to make teas run smoothly.

• Likewise, if you see on your travels a new team kit bag missing the "I" from Ipswich, rest assured our suppliers are replacing them - we didn't ask Foxy to proof read the sample.

• Vic Shelley and Clare Barstow have stepped in to help umpire management - it's a task for which we're incredibly grateful for their help - and they need your help, saying YES to umpiring would be a great start. We can't play without them, it's that simple, and we can't just rely on our brilliant young umpires and an experienced older generation.

Home
W2 vs Bury 2 - 1000
M2 vs Sudbury 1 - 1200
W1 vs Chelmsford - 1400
W5 vs Bury 5 - 1600
W6 vs Bury 6 - 1730

Away
M4 vs Bury 4 - 1030
W4 vs Bury 4 - 1030
W3 vs Bury 3 - 1200
M3 vs Bury 3 - 1630
M5 vs Bury 5 - 1630
M1 vs Chelmsford/Southgate 2 (away on Sunday)

Women's 2s Pre-season friendly from last Sunday

What a glorious day to start the new season; weather, BBQ, players, parents, supporters and umpires were all on top form...

Ipswich Ladies 2s welcomed a good Colchester side to Tuddenham Road with a clear understanding that this first match was all about progression; using our voices and supporting each other.

We had a fabulous chat before the game; we learnt that Wing is absolutely not stressed about her wedding (despite the place burning down), that Beth absolutely is worried about the responsibility of organising Wing's hen do...and we have some seriously smart young players - not only great hockey players but really clever too.

...and we have a coach that identified the one word beginning with A that people can use to get his attention, to know that he has disappointed them and luckily it wasn't used on Saturday...but the season is still young !

So to the match; in the first quarter we struggled for possession and were under the cosh for large periods of time, primarily because we are a brand new team and this was our first outing...We chatted at the break and made a couple of adjustments (apparently having 11 on the pitch is a good idea...)

The second quarter saw us get some control back in the game, our willing forward runners in Alva, Chloe Mc and Issy started to get some joy up the pitch and create short corners...where Sophie (7km in the first game Flet) and Beth combined to tee up India for a series of drag flicks that troubled the keeper...but just didn't quite find the corner...

The third quarter saw probably our best Hockey...we sorted out our press and defended more narrowly to win the ball back higher up the pitch...Erin in particular worked so hard to break up play - a player that really likes to do the hard work of defending.

Prior to the start I explained that I wanted to use the 4th quarter to try 2 things; half court press for about 10 minutes and no keeper for 5 minutes. Very few of our team had tried either before and it gives us and the opposition different problems to solve...I was so proud at how we embraced this with no prior traiing and an experienced Colchester side had no answers...our younger players absolutely had the match ups won.

Things that we learnt; names, positions, importance of communication, having too many people doubling up is a big ask, insurance is a fascinating industry (ok, I made that one up), fitness is a personal choice, we worked really hard together, Emma and Beth do smile and there is photo evidence - attached...

The result ? The result doesn't matter this week...it matters more next week and it matters a lot from the 21st...but for those keeping count; Ipswich 0-Colchester 4.

Finally, a massive thank you to those doubling up (Charlie, Emma L, Wing, Sophie S, Ellie Scott), to Claire M between the sticks and to all the parents who have been amazing in their support and communication.

Flet