Ipswich Hockey Club - Club Coaching Opportunities

Seeking senior coaches, player coaches and junior coaches at one of the East's leading clubs.

Ipswich Hockey Club is seeking to appoint a best in class coaching group for the coming 2024-25 season. As a longstanding club with an impressive history, we continue to grow and have ambitious plans to progress our juniors, youth, and adult sections in both the outdoor and indoor game. In order to take our club to the next level, we are looking to invest significantly in our coaching structure and as such, we have opportunities across the club. Whether you are interested in coaching or player/coaching for one of our first teams, taking our Tier 1 youth to the next level and through our player pathway, or you’re keen to help build our foundations with the 5 men’s and 5 women’s teams – we would love to hear from you. 

Men’s Hockey at IHC 

IHC Men’s 1s (M1s) play in the EHL National Conference East. After a number of years in East Premier the team gained promotion to the National League at the end of the 2022/23 season. Our first team combines experience and youth; as one of the leading clubs in the East of England, we benefit from regular new interest as well as developing our own youth talent and benefitting from the association with one of the country’s premier hockey schools, Ipswich School. This season M2s have solidified their promotion to East Div1N with a mid-table finish, M3s assured their promotion as league winners halfway through the season with a GD > 100 and M4 & M5 performed well to finish mid table in the first season in their respective leagues. 

Women’s Hockey at IHC 

Our Women’s 1st team has a strong history of National League hockey. The team has seen 30 years in National League and currently play in East Conference. The team are also no stranger to Indoor success having reached the National finals on many occasions and we intend to enter the Indoor league again for the 2024/2025 season. We are looking for a coach to consolidate the W1s National League status whilst developing both adults and juniors, with a number of junior players making their debuts in the last year. One of the aims of the team is to grow the squad by developing current players and bringing in new talent to add strength and depth to maintain the strong future of the club. 

The W2s are currently flying high in East Div 1, with ambitions for promotion to East Prem in the future. With a mixture of experience and youth, the W2s are looking for a coach or player/coach to develop and consolidate their strong league position and push those players through to the W1s who have the ability to play at a higher level. 

The W3s, W4s and W5s consist of a range of players from juniors just starting their transition into adult hockey to more experienced players looking to progress up the teams or carry on enjoying their hockey into the future. The squads are looking to expand their coaching team to take them to the next step. The coaches will be looking to develop players to play up the club whilst maintaining the experience to build a strong foundation for the future.

Club overview 

IHC runs 5 men’s teams, 5 women’s teams and an expanding junior and youth programme. The club is enjoying an increase in interest, membership, and development both on and off the pitch. Our U16 boys competed in EHL Tier 1 with notable results against Surbiton, Hampstead & Westminster, and Buckingham. Our U14 boys completed a clean sweep of victories in EHL Tier 1 and went on to success in the Supra league. We run competitive junior teams for boys and girls from U8 through to U18 and boast the fastest growing junior section in Suffolk. We also have a thriving social scene with regular social events at our clubhouse overlooking our new pitch The future is bright for a growing club with a fantastic heritage. 

Club Training & Fixtures 

• Mondays: W1 – 19:00-20:30 
• Tuesdays: W3-5 – 18:30-20:00, M1-2 20:00-21:30 
• Wednesdays: W1 and W2 – 18:45-20:15, M3-5 - 20:15-21:45 
• Thursdays: M1 - 19:00-20:30 

Fixtures – Saturday / Sunday per league requirements 

Job Description 

Currently we are open to tailoring our approach to enable quality coaching to fit with our club, this may extend to include options to adjust training nights to meet schedules. Individual job descriptions will be made available on application. As an ambitious club we are looking to build on our current league positions, to develop our brand of hockey and enable players to grow and develop. 

Working in co-ordination with the leadership team, you will hold responsibility for strategy, skill development and selection. We are open to coaches who are looking to continue their playing career where appropriate. 

Youth Player Pathway 

Information on our Youth Player Pathway, which is designed to develop youth players with support from across the club, can be found on our website. https://www.ipswichhockeyclub.co.uk/d/documents.html 

Remuneration 

Commensurate to position and experience - details available on request 

Benefits 

Flexible options to include Ipswich Sports Club membership