Abergavenny Hockey Club won a number of accolades at this year's prestigious Hockey Wales Awards 2014.

The club has had an outstanding season across a number of areas of its club development, working closely with Monmouthshire County Council and also Hockey Wales (the National Governing Body for Hockey in Wales).

The awards evening took place in the Vale Resort in Glamorgan and was attended by both of the teams that represented Wales at hockey in the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow earlier this year, as well as Sarah Thomas, bronze medal winner in the London Olympic Games 2012.

Abergavenny Hockey Club were short listed for no less than five awards, recognising the current standard of the club and its ability to attract and develop new members, some of whom have never played hockey before.

The first award presented went to the Youth Section, who were awarded Youth Section of the Year 2014. The Award collected by Junior Club Co-ordinator Sharon Phillips was presented to the club for being a safe and quality club that provides opportunities across the 7-18 year old age range. The club has age, ability and gender specific weekly training sessions for all children, and has teams participating all across South Wales at age ranges Under 9, Under 11, Under 13, Under 15 and Under 18. The aim of the club is to encourage as many people as possible to participate in the sport, and to gain a safe, quality and fun hockey experience at every session.

The club also has some very talented players and have a number of its youth members winning Welsh Cups and representing Wales on the international stage within the Welsh National Age Group Squads. The club are very proud to receive this award which symbolises the amount of hard work that the volunteer members invest. Development of the youth section is at the heart of the club, it is always keen to gain new members, especially if they have never played hockey before.

After the applause had died down, the club was also awarded Hockey Wales Tier One Club of the Year 201. This award recognises a club that provides a safe and quality infra-structure and develops and supports volunteers, coaches and umpires.

Abergavenny Hockey Club has experienced a significant growth in its membership over the year and now has three ladies teams and one men's side. The men's team are pushing very hard to provide a second team, especially on the back of its promotion into South Wales Division One of the Davis Wood Hockey League.

The past year has seen the development of a number of youth umpires and senior umpires as well as coaches, volunteers, administrators and safeguarding/child protection officers. Working very closely with Monmouthshire County Council and Hockey Wales the club remains in good shape to increase the levels of participation.

The club picked up a third award, with Sian Phillips being awarded the Young Coach of the Year 2014. Sian is one of the club's youngest coaches but her skills, enthusiasm and professionalism ensure that she has been deservedly recognised with this National Award.

Sian has attended a youth coaching course run by the club in partnership with Monmouthshire County Council and has also completed a Hockey Wales 4689 leadership award which is a brand new way to play hockey, aimed at increasing the amount of 'game time' given to junior players. Sian coaches the Under 9 junior side and attends both training sessions and games on a regular basis making every session fun and enjoyable for all of her young players.

Also shortlisted for an award was young umpire Luke Rees who regularly officiates in games at both a junior and senior levels and is already one of Abergavenny's most experienced umpires. Nick Fackrell was shortlisted for Tier One coach of the year for his coaching across all levels of the game.

Finally, the club would also like to recognise the huge amount of work that has been invested by Monmouthshire County Council's sport Development Officer Laura James. Laura was awarded the Teacher / Lecturer of the Year Award 2014 for her work around the development of the club and also her role in increasing the participation in hockey within local schools.

Laura has organised and run primary school hockey festivals, set up a boys hockey club at King Henry School and also worked very closely to help train and recruit several volunteers to further improve the sport in the area. Laura provides a great link between the local schools and the club and regularly visits schools to run hockey taster sessions. Laura also organises hockey days over the half term and school holidays and also works closely with Hockey Wales.

The club has a great social scene both on and off the pitch, and also has some very talented players at all age groups from six right up to 70. It has a very proud history dating back to 1897. It is always looking for new players of all ages and abilities, so why not pop along and give hockey a try?