Louth Hockey Club receives French support!

Lucy Yvart (fourth from right, in blue top) with other members of her team.

As reported in recent months, the club is currently trying to help fund the £200,000 replacement surface at the London Road Pavilion and  has gathered support from all over the UK – but now the campaign has spread across the Channel!

A French hockey club with a Louth connection has backed the club to help make sure hockey is still played in the town in the future.

Lucy Yvart is a former Louth resident who is now president of Hockey Club des Deux Caps, a small club near the city of Calais in northern France.

The French team's logo.

Lucy said: “It’s a real pleasure to be back in touch with my home club, in Louth.

“Hearing that the club is raising funds for new astro turf pitch, all of us at the club in Saint Inglevert, France, wish them every success.”

Mrs Yvart (née McLellan) went to school in Louth and is a former Louth Hockey Club player.

She said: “I started playing at school, at Cordeaux where Anne McClure and Mr Brazinskas were real drivers for the sport.

“I used to train on Thursday nights in Louth. I played a couple of times for Louth Ladies, but essentially stopped playing when I left Louth  to go to university.

“In 1995, I moved to France and have been here since. I was always looking to take up the sport again, and was so pleased when the village up the road from me started HC2C, Hockey Club des Deux Caps.

“Our name is taken from the area we are positioned in, La Terre des Deux Caps, which is between two headlands, Cap Blanc Nez and Cap Blanc Nez - the latter being the closest point to England.”

Hockey is a minority sport in France, but the club has 45 members, aged between three and 60. The sport in France has fewer than 20,000 players and 174 affiliated clubs In 2014, Hockey Club des Deux Caps won European Small Club of the year award, awarded by the EHF.

Lucy added: “If any of the Louth club members are passing through, we are 10 minutes from Eurotunnel - we would love a game!”

Louth Hockey Club is battling to keep hockey in the town and has agreed the funding in principle to ensure its 150 members have somewhere to train and play.

East Lindsey District Council is committed to the project, but the club has pledged to take out a £50,000 loan from ELDC and put up £10,000 of its own funds to ensure the pitch is replaced. Chairwoman Lesley Ward said the club is working closely with ELDC and the Magna Vitae Trust to submit an application for funding to the National Hockey Foundation.

• To support the club and find out more information, follow Louth Hockey Club on Facebook or visit www.louthhockeyclub.co.uk.