TLA Sport

with Roger Jackson Please email full details to sport@thelocalanswer.co.uk

Chris Laird will be leading Cheltenham Hockey Club from the front – quite literally – this season.

The 30-year-old forward is the new captain of the men’s flagship team for 2022/23 and it’s a role he was certainly happy to take on.

“I think it’s the right time in terms of my experience,” he said.

“I class myself as one of the leaders of the group anyway.

“I’m happy to put time and effort into trying to mould the team but it’s not all down to me, we’ve got five or six people in our leadership group, I’m just the tip of the spear.”

One of that leadership group is former skipper Bertie Wyatt who will continue to play for the 1sts this season.

Wyatt, along with Laird, will have an important role to play as Cheltenham look to bounce back from last season’s relegation from the national league.

“One of the things I want to do is try to improve the standards pre-game, during the game and around the changing room,” said Laird, who also coaches the men’s 3rds and 4ths.

“I want us to make more of a big deal when someone comes into the 1st team for the first time, I want to bond the team and get a really good spirit.”

Winning games always helps foster a good team spirit, of course, and Laird, who describes himself as “a front foot press forward” will be key as they look to get out of West Premier One.

“I’m quite physical, I set the tone regarding pressing,” he said. “I hold the ball up, I’m a hold-up play type of striker.”

He admits he’d like to score more goals – which striker wouldn’t? – and while he says

Cheltenham Hockey Club captain Chris Laird he has a goals target for the season it’s one that he prefers to keep to himself.

He readily concedes that relegation from the national league was “disappointing” but he also sees this campaign as an opportunity to regroup.

“For the past two or three years we’ve been struggling a little bit with availability,” he said. “Now we’ve got a good opportunity to take stock, rebuild and get our identity back.

“Being in Premier One gives us an opportunity to give younger people a bit more of a chance.

“We’ll take this season game by game and then let’s see where we are, but we’re looking for a successful season.

“The emphasis will be on not being too confident; just because we were relegated doesn’t mean we are now going to win every game.”

Laird, who lives in Longford, knows his hockey having played for Gloucester City for a good number of years before joining Cheltenham four or five years ago.

He also had a spell at Cleevillians and said: “I joined Gloucester when I was 13/14. I played for them through to university where I played a bit for Cardiff Met before going back to Gloucester.”

The chance to play in the national league attracted him to Cheltenham and he broke into their first team midway through his first season.

He’s been there ever since and although he remains a player first and foremost, he takes his coaching very seriously too.

“I’ve been coaching for the past couple of seasons,” he said. “It was something that was at the back of my mind.

“I’m not naïve enough to think that I’ll be able to play forever. I’ve got a young lad who loves all sport and it’s a way for me to stay involved.”

It’s also beneficial for the club because being coached by the club’s captain is surely an extra motivation for some of the up and coming players.

And Laird, who was educated at Churchdown School, is very keen to see more and more of those up and coming players at Cheltenham.

“From a club’s perspective, we’re trying to give as many people as possible the opportunity to play competitive hockey,” he said.

“Hockey, a bit like cricket, has got this stigma attached to it that it is only for private school children.

“We want to banish that myth. We want to make Cheltenham Hockey Club as inclusive as possible, our junior section is available to anyone.”

And what should newcomers to the game expect?

“It’s a really competitive, highoctane sport,” said Laird. “It’s a really, really good game.”