David Birch to make Hockey National League Debut
On Sunday 6th November David Birch, third year student at the University of Cumbria, will make his National League Debut in the England Hockey North Conference League for Preston Hockey Club against Olton & West Warwick.
How long have you been playing hockey for and which teams?
I first started playing hockey at my secondary school in West Sussex when I was 15 years old, none of us had played before apart from one player who was involved in a England youth team. His attitude and work ethic towards the sport made me want to be a part of it.
Then moving up to the lake district and determined to carry on my hockey and enter club level, I joined Lancaster and Morecambe HC. I spent three years at the club, only one of which was in the first team. During my time at LMHC I was selected for a JRPC (Junior Regional Performance Centre) for the North West of England, which unfortunately I got injured during a training camp which resulted me in missing competitions. The summer before moving to university I decided to make the big move to a well-known premier club called Bowdon which is in Sale, Cheshire. The move was to better myself and in the aim to play National League. Even their second team played two leagues higher than I had recently played at, so I really through myself in at the deep end. A lot of people had questioned this move, starting university and commuting for training sessions and travelling for games and it was a struggle to begin with. Not only the physical side of the standard there but also the travelling but I 100% do not regret the move to Bowdon HC, it was the best decision I made and have improved vastly in the four seasons I spent there. The commitment of the coaching staff there I have to thank for where I am today, one in particular which is Ian Hardingham. He worked with me for hours some weeks on and off the pitch.
During my time at University of Cumbria I coached the men’s first team for two seasons, captained for 1 year and I’m currently the chairman of the society for the following reason.
I frustratingly had to take a year out of club hockey due to an 18-month wrist injury, requiring two operations. It was a very rare procedure and has still not solved the problem; leaving with a bone or two tilting out of place and osteoarthritis also only leaving me with only 3-5 years left of my playing career before the final operation where the wrist will be fussed but I was determined to reach National League. With my wrist being so fragile I had to take a step back from university hockey to focus on reaching national league.
Having recently come back to the game after a summer full of running and strength & conditioning, I considered my options at length on how to reach this level. The decision came to moving to Preston HC where I would be joining a team being coached by an ex England coach, who had watched me at Bowdon before and was happy of the idea of me joining Bowdon.
Making the decision so late in pre-season meant I started in the 2’s for Preston. It’s taken seven weeks to break into a winning first team but finally I am happy to say that I got the call to play for Preston HC in the England Hockey National League North Conference.
Why did you decide to continue playing when you came to the University of Cumbria?
When I came to the University of Cumbria I knew a handful of players from Lancaster and Morecambe HC and Cumbria County, so I was looking forward to playing with them again. The main reason I was looking forward to playing hockey for university was purely for enjoyment. The majority of the players at Cumbria had not played hockey before university so there wasn’t pressure on performances. Regardless of the result, the team always enjoyed their Wednesday. For me personally I feel like the society was successful in majority of their seasons because they enjoyed their hockey. Regardless of ability, members always felt like part of a team.
What are you looking forward to most about playing in the National League?
That’s a hard one, I’ve been working towards this for so long and now that it’s finally here I haven’t had time to let it sink in really. I’m aware of the big difference in standard between National League to what I’ve played previously, I think what will be the best experience will be playing against players that will have played a higher level; National Premiership or international. The speed and intensity of the game is what I’m looking forward to most and pushing myself to show I’m good enough to compete at the level.
What are your plans next for your hockey career?
Plans for my hockey career; I’m hoping to see out the English season as a national league player for Preston. Then after completing my coaching and sport development degree I’ve had some offers to go and play some club hockey in Australia, in a similar league to National League, I’ve heard the style of play is a lot different over there and that the running is a lot harder over there, so it would be good to experience that.
In all honesty I’m hoping to excel more at my coaching within hockey for a couple of reasons being that I don’t have long left as a player with my wrist and I really don’t want to say goodbye to the sport, the other reason being I feel I have a lot to offer to the sport. So going to Australia will also give me the chance to expand my knowledge and hopefully gain some coaching qualifications/experience. I’m currently head coach at a club called Windermere and mainly work with both ladies and men’s first teams which have both been very successful before I was asked to coach them, so the ball is rolling which I’m happy about. I’m also the male student representative for BUCS, which involves at looking to develop university hockey and to increase participation.
After that, who knows! For now I’m going to enjoy National League hockey and keep learning.
Team UCSU would like to wish David good luck with his first National League game, and the rest of his hockey career!
Update from David on Monday 7th November: Sunday didn't go to plan as we suffered a 5-1 defeat to a strong Olton & West Warwick side. What makes it more frustrating is that it was only 1-1 at half time. They had a lot of players who were playing elite premiership hockey last year so the intensity was very high and quick! Overall I enjoyed the experience and held my own according to others. Hopefully I did enough to keep my spot for next week.
