Euro award for Villagers

Uddingston Hockey Club has beaten competition from across the continent to become the first in Scotland to win a prestigious award.
The men's first team at Uddingston Hockey Club.The men's first team at Uddingston Hockey Club.
The men's first team at Uddingston Hockey Club.

The European Hockey Federation has named Uddingston as the recipient of its 2015 Club of the Year Award for Small Clubs, which recognises those with 300 members or less.

After working in partnership with Scottish Hockey’s development team to submit their nomination, the EHF considered the Villager’s candidacy as reflective of its mission to value and recognise strong, well-organised clubs across Europe.

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EHF president Marijke Fleuren said: “I am proud to congratulate the club on their efforts, and this 
well-deserved award.

“They have shown us what it means to be truly successful; hard working, inclusive and community centred.”

EHF was particularly impressed with Uddingston for being the first Scottish club in five years to build their own pitch, which is available for community use.

The club is now targeting having all teams playing at the highest level possible, build a new changing facility and indoor hall, and further growing the youth and maintaining the in-school programmes to produce talented players for recognition at district and Scottish level.

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Uddingston vice-president David Goodfellow said: “We are over the moon with our achievement and we would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors Perfect Glazing, Clinetix, and Palazzo.

“Without their continued support, we would not be able to continue our growth and win such a prestigious award.”

Director of Hockey, Steven Percy, added: “We have a core group of volunteers who have bought into a strong club vision and have been committed to achieving our ambitions.

“The club is delighted to receive this award, as it recognises the value of those volunteers’ work, time and efforts to generate success.

“We have demonstrated that the club is going in the right direction and I hope the award will re-energise our club to keep moving forward and help further achieve 
our potential.”