From South Berkshire with Love
If anyone has ever opened a cupboard, garage, boot room or hockey bag and wondered why they were still hanging on to a stick they hadn’t used since before COVID, they were certainly not alone. In fact, the South Berks Hockey family had been quietly storing a small mountain of hockey equipment in every conceivable corner of Berkshire.
After a long‑overdue expedition into the depths of the club kit rooms, the team uncovered an incredible amount of equipment. Some of it had been carefully stored, some completely forgotten, and some appeared to have entered a witness protection programme years ago. They gathered hockey sticks, goalkeeper kit, training gear, clothing, bags, balls and a wide variety of other hockey essentials that were no longer being used but still had plenty of life left in them.
As tempting as it was to keep expanding the unofficial museum of retired hockey equipment, the club’s kit officer was determined to find a better solution. That’s where the Kit2Play Foundation came in. This fantastic local charity specialises in collecting unwanted hockey kits and ensuring it finds a new home where it can make a real difference.
Working with Kit2Play, the equipment donated by South Berks HC will now begin an exciting new journey to Ghana. There, access to hockey equipment can often be limited, making even the most familiar items invaluable to players, coaches and clubs. While a stick gathering dust in a garage might seem unremarkable in Berkshire, it can become a treasured piece of equipment for a young player eager to develop their skills and passion for the game.
It’s remarkable to think that kit which may have experienced wet Saturday afternoons, freezing winter training sessions, dramatic cup defeats, glorious victories and perhaps the occasional disagreement with an umpire will now have the opportunity to create a whole new set of memories thousands of miles away. 
The South Berks community demonstrated the generosity and spirit that makes the club so special. Every donated item represents someone choosing to help grow the game beyond their own pitches and changing rooms.
Hockey has always been more than just a sport. It brings people together, builds friendships and creates opportunities. Through this donation, the members of South Berks HC are helping to ensure that more young people in Ghana have the chance to experience those same benefits, regardless of where they live or the resources available to them.
A huge thank you goes to everyone who contributed equipment, helped organise the collection, sorted through the donations and supported the initiative. Thanks to their generosity, countless pieces of kit have avoided spending another decade hiding in garages and will instead be back where they belong — on hockey pitches, in training sessions and helping players enjoy the sport they all love.
The club looks forward to following the journey of the equipment and seeing the positive impact it has in Ghana. It is a wonderful reminder that even the oldest stick in the back of a cupboard can still have some great hockey left in it.
Alfred Bruce-Micah was presented with the equipment at the South Berkshire Clubhouse at Cantley Park. The presentation was made by Andrea Dell (Kit Officer), Peter Forbes (Club Chairman), Sandra and Chris Dodington (Clubhouse Managers), and Nigel King (Lifetime Member).
