2025/26 Season Preview

2025/26 SEASON PREVIEW

Men’s Blues: Last season the Men’s Blues won the Varsity Match 3-0, were promoted on Saturdays unbeaten (with a goal difference of +144), and came second in the BUCS Men’s Premier South division. On the back of this success, we are planning to push for a second promotion in as many years and make a return to the Conference. With 11 returning Blues, the core of the squad remains strong and committed to a successful year. As always, we aim to win the Varsity Match, and finish well in the top half of the league in BUCS. I’m greatly looking forward to the year ahead. - Joe Greer  

Women’s Blues: As the season gets underway, one of my main goals as captain is to lead the Blues to promotion into Div 1. Achieving this would place us in a more competitive environment next year, providing the kind of weekly challenge that will drive both individual player development and our growth as a cohesive unit. With Saturday fixtures allowing us to consistently field our full-strength side, I’m particularly focused on using those matches to build momentum and refine our style of play as a true Blues team. Alongside this, we’re setting our sights on a strong performance in the BUCS Cup, something I believe is well within our reach with the squad we have this year. We are navigating positive preseason, laying the groundwork for a strong team culture where every voice is heard and everyone contributes meaningfully. Looking forward to our Blues tour, I hope this will be a great launchpad, helping us gel both on and off the pitch. Above all, we’re committed to fostering good team morale and keeping a shared objective in sight with continuous growth, both as individual athletes and as a team. - Caragh Haspel 

Nomads: After an unforgettable season last year, the Nomads are heading into the 2025/26 season off the back of a double promotion. We’re incredibly proud of last season and we’re keen to continue building on that momentum this year whilst growing even further with new members. We’re excited by the challenge of competing in the higher leagues against stronger opposition as it provides the opportunity for us to step up and push ourselves further. Of course, our eyes are already on the biggest match of the year – Varsity. There is no better motivation than the chance to beat Oxf*rd on their home turf and everything we will do will build towards ensuring this happens. - Amelia Kortens 

Wanderers: This season, the Wanderers look to build on the strong momentum from last year’s successes in BUCS, Varsity, and the East Leagues. While we bid farewell to several much-loved Wanderers, including our coach Sam “Grimmy” Grimshaw, we are delighted to welcome a new coaching partnership: Will Laird, 2024–25 Men’s Blues Captain, and Nick Barclay, Wanderer 2023–25. Looking ahead, our ambitions are clear—an Iffley Road Varsity victory to end the recent run of away defeats, and promotion in our BUCS league as key targets for the season. As Wanderers Co-Captains for 2025–26, Callum and I look to the year ahead with immense excitement and promise, and we look forward to keeping the CUHC alumni updated on our progress throughout the season. - Ossian Finch 

Beds: The Beds are coming off the back of a super 24/25 season and we aim to keep the momentum high. Between a 3-0 win against Oxford and achieving a top 4 finish in the East Women's Division 2 North West league, we have lots to live up to in the coming season. Our initial aims at this stage are to use our time in preseason to build a strong squad and prepare for our first league match on the 4th of October. We are also welcoming two new coaches, Henry Murphy and Ciara Boaden, to the Beds and we are eager to learn all that they have to offer. We think the Beds have a strong shot at promotion in the East leagues this year and are determined to hit the ground running and make that a reality. - Anna Smyth 

Squanderers: Fresh off the back of promotion to Div 2 NW, the Squandies are always looking to carry on winning, whether it is our RESOUNDING 2-0 win over the Infrequents in last year's BDotY, socials, or the league. We are looking to build on the momentum of previous seasons, with new freshers bringing the energy and the vibes! #GDBO #IFLTS #TIAFS - Sam Featherstone 

Rovers: The Rovers are really excited for the upcoming season! We had a lot of hockey freshers in our team last year, but by the end of the season it felt as though we had a really cohesive team who had shown notable improvement in skills which was shown by our increase in wins. We’re excited to be going into this season building on from where we left off. This year our main aims are working on our fitness in training so that we can keep the energy from the start to the end of each match. Additionally, we want to work on set plays up front to get some more goals on the scoreboard. The Rovers had a fun season last year, and we had a lot of good times both on and off the pitch as a team. So, our most important aim is to bring these good vibes into the upcoming season. - Alice Pidgeon 

Blunderers: Coming off the back of a phenomenal 24/25 season, the Blunderers will once again be looking to make an impact as they enter the challenge of a debut season in East Leagues Division 3. Fueled by good vibes, positive attitudes and liquid hockey, the ever-improving Blundies are on a quest to put up some positive performances which will hopefully result in some equally positive outcomes. A key target for this season is an away BDOTY victory which this squad is more than capable of achieving. It promises to be another unreal season for CUMHC’s mighty 4s. - Benedict Holder