Profiles

As Beeston hockey club prepare for their second European cup campaign, one man having to count all the pennies is liaison officer Steve Brooks.

He's a jack-of-all-trades at the club he's had an association with for more than 20 years.

He's chairman of the Highfields Sports club where Beeston play and he's back as acting club secretary, a position he tried to give up after a decade at the helm but has now been sucked back into.

It's an important role. Hockey is an amateur sport and as such relies on fees from those who want to play.

"We're looking to generate £40,000 to £50,000 in revenue this year to keep everybody going."

Playing for fun

Steve's playing career began as a 14-year-old in Leicester but when his friends moved to Beeston he decided to follow them.

"My aspirations were not so much around playing first team hockey as playing to the best of my abilities which at the time were in the second eleven. It was for the atmosphere and sociability."

That ethic continues today. Steve works for Nottinghamshire County Council as a business support manager.

"Hockey becomes a nice distraction to the day to day humdrum."

Changing times

The greatest change he's seen at the club is the facilities.

"When I started playing Beeston had one pitch. It was one of the earliest astro turf pitches, very hard and unforgiving.

"Now we've got a two million pound facility that we're looking to expand with another pitch, spending another million pounds to give us the best facilities in the country. It's a big challenge but it's a fantastic set up."

And he says the make-up of the team has also altered.

"(When I was playing) the average age of the first team would be 30 to 35. Now you're talking about 18 to 21."

The future

While Beeston strives for success on the pitch, Steve Brooks doesn't want the core of the club to change.

"The model we've got at Beeston is based on being self supporting. We bring kids through. We occasionally recruit external talent but it's the sustainability that's important and we don't rely on bringing new players in every year."

But don't think the Highfields based outfit is a place of continuous harmony. In his various roles Steve admits there's plenty of spicy conversation.

"Like any organisation there are divides and tension and friction around the place but that's human nature and that's what keeps us going at times. There's always a different opinion."