On the 27-28th of August, the annual Y1 Championship, will be held at Sugden Road, Surbiton. It’s an exciting new club tournament set up by Y1 Hockey to enhance the coverage and fan experience of club hockey. Not only is this set to be a great spectacle for hockey fans but there will be over £20,000 worth of prizes up for grabs for the competing teams.
Off the back of England’s Commonwealth Games success, this is an opportunity to see some of those players up close, including the likes of Phil Roper, Nick Bandurak and Ollie Payne. The tournament will be showcasing both men’s and women’s hockey at senior level, u16s and u14s.
Senior tournaments will have shorter quarters of 10 minutes each, creating a fast-paced hockey game. A new rule is that each team can call a power play for 5 minutes. Each team may call only one power play per match. During this time, their goals will be counted as 2. Sevenoaks used their power to regain a 3-1 defeat in the Y1 Champs Qualifiers tournament. They scored a penalty corner at the full-time whistle during a Power Play. With £2,500 prize money on the line we expect to see teams going all out to use their power play to help secure victory.
Photo by Hockey Centric. In the junior finals shootouts replaced corners. This rule has been well-received, increasing excitement, individual skill, as well as allowing for more goals. The winners of each u14 and u16 final will each receive a free Y1 stick, worth a total value of £4,700. These talented youth will be playing in front large crowds.
The Y1 Champs are awash with media coverage. Galvanised will film both pitches, and Y1 will live stream the semi-finals & finals via their Youtube channel. Pitch 1 will be filmed from four different angles with commentary from international athletes, Phil Roper and Brendan Creed. They host their own hockey podcast called ‘Lets Stick Together’, if you’ve listened to it you will be prepared for some lighthearted banter.
If you can’t make it to Sugden Road, make sure you follow along at @Y1Champs Instagram for all the behind-the-scenes from Y1’s team of content creators.
Saturday will be at 11am for the group stages, and Sunday will start at 9am. It will be packed with knock-out hockey, and a huge Bank Holiday party!
Get Your Tickets Tickets are still available and you can get a 20% discount using code ‘HWNCHAMPS’ at checkout. The action begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. on Sunday. On Sunday, the after party will be a major part of the event. Make sure to stick around for the DJ sets as well as a drink with the musicians.
Men’s Teams: Wimbledon, Hampstead & Westminster, Holcombe, East Grinstead, Oxted, Exeter
Women’s Teams: Surbiton, Wimbledon, Holcombe, East Grinstead, Buckingham, Beeston, ISCA
U16 Girls Final: Knole Park vs Hockey Mentors
Final for U16 Boys: Surbiton vs Wessex Spartans
U14 Girls Final: Surbiton vs Knole Park
U14 Boys Finale: Wimbledon vs Surbiton
The Format: Two-Day EventMen’s Matches- 4 x 12.5 Mins ¼’s (150 or 200 mins of hockey)Women’s matches 4 x 10 Min ¼’s (160 or 200 mins of hockey)Event to go ahead on the Weekend of the 27/28th August at Sugden RoadFive-Minute ‘Power Play’ Rule – when a team calls for their power play, all goals scored in that 5 minutes are worth two! Power plays must be called at the start of a ¼ before that ¼ starts The Prizes: Men’s Champions: £2,500 cashWomen’s Champions: £2,500 cashJunior Champions: Free Stick for each playerTop Goalscorers (Senior): £100 Y1 VoucherGoalkeeper of the tournament Senior: £100 Y1 VoucherPlayer of the tournament Senior: £100 Y1 Voucher Men’s Group 1: Oxted, East Grinstead, Wimbledon
Men’s Group 2: Holcombe, Hampstead & Westminster, Exeter
Women’s Group 1: Surbiton, Holcombe, Buckingham
Women’s Group 2: East Grinstead, Wimbledon, ISCA, Beeston
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