Cheltenham Hockey Club Women's 1sts launch their new season at Trojans tomorrow and they are looking to build on their encouraging campaign last time out.

They finished fifth in the 10-strong England Hockey Women’s Conference West, winning half their 18 games and picking up 30 points.

“It was our highest ever finish and it was the most wins and the most points we’ve had at the level,” said head coach Simon Padley.

“Realistically, the aim this season is to finish in the top three. Ultimately, we want to progress the club through the league but winning promotion is very difficult, only one team goes up so you need to have almost a perfect season.”

Reading 2nds won the title last season, winning 14, drawing three and finishing 11 points clear of second-placed Trojans.

Cheltenham, who will be captained this season by central defender Rosie Stranack, know all about the upcoming challenges however, because they have been an established national league club for a good number of years.

Padley knows all about the upcoming challenges, too, because he is in his second spell as the team’s head coach and is vastly experienced.

The 46-year-old, who is assistant director of sport for performance at Cheltenham Ladies’ College, has been part of the club since the age of 11 and was one of the key players when the men’s flagship team won promotion to the national league back in the early noughties.

He returned as head coach of the women's team two-and-a-half years ago after previously being in the role for “five or six seasons eight or 10 years ago”.

His first spell in charge saw them return to the national league and he gave up the position only due to work commitments.

He’s glad to be back, of course – he readily admits hockey is a “humungus part” of his life – and the one-time Bournside School pupil is looking forward to working closely with Rosie Stranack this season.

She has taken over as skipper from Alice Shea, who will continue to play for the first team, and Padley said: “Rosie returned to the club last season, she’s a very good player. She was at the club during my first coaching stint.”

Padley, a married dad of three who lives in Gotherington, clearly thinks a lot about the game.

He’s part of the 12-strong coaches advisory group for England Hockey, he was head of hockey at the University of Gloucestershire, where he worked for 15 years, and is player/coach of Wales Over-45s who finished fourth in the European Championships in Valencia. 

This year Padley will be working closely with co-coaches Dave Williams and Katie Vickers at Cheltenham.

“We have formed a performance squad to enable more high quality coaching opportunities for aspiring players across both the 1st and 2nd teams,” Padley explained.

“We have a fantastic group of younger players forming a very bright future for the club.”

So what is Padley’s coaching philosophy?

“I’m a firm believer as a coach that you need to create really good decision-makers,” he said.

“Teams don’t just need a Plan A, they need a Plan B, C and D. We play with three or four formations or presses, we look at zonal pressing systems rather than man to man.”

Those formations include 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3 and 4-4-2, and Padley continued: “There’s an emphasis on a solid defensive structure while trying to release the flair players at the other end of the pitch.

“We play a fast brand of hockey. We attack quickly but we’re good at adapting to what is in front of us.”

And it’s clearly working because Cheltenham lost just one league game in the second half of last season.

“We’ve got a good mix,” added Padley, who plays cricket for Gotherington. “We’ve got the senior players and we’ve introduced some younger players into the squad.

“They’ve got pace and flair, they’re pretty fearless.”

And Cheltenham will certainly be heading to Eastleigh in Hampshire without any fear tomorrow.

“They’re a decent side but we always seem to play better against them away from home,” said Padley.