Peter Willett is in his second season as captain of the men’s section at Cirencester Hockey Club and it’s a role that he is clearly enjoying.

It’s a fairly new role at the club and all the signs are that it is working very well.

Willett is 54 and although he no longer plays first-team hockey he remains a major player at the club.

“One of my key jobs is to help the captains operate as a team so that there is consistency in the way teams play, on the field as well as off the field,” he said.

Willett is clearly happy to have taken on the role and is very well suited to it too.

He moved from the Midlands to this part of world in the late 90s and originally played for Swindon before joining Cirencester at the start of the 2002/03 season.

“Swindon played at a higher level, that’s why I played for them even though I was living in Cirencester,” he said.

Eventually he got tired of all the travelling and decided to join his hometown club and it’s fair to say he has never looked back.

“I’ve played for every team in the men’s section,” he said with some pride. “And I’m also very proud to say that I recently played my first game for Gloucestershire Over-40s.

“I tend to play in defence these days. I used to play in midfield because I’ve got a fairly good diesel engine that helps me get up and down the pitch.”

Cirencester Hockey Club are also in pretty good condition as well with Willett – who still plays for the club’s 2nd XI – describing it as a “growing club”.

“Last year we had four men’s teams and this season we’re running five,” Willett said. “We decided to have the extra team because we’ve got such a strong junior section.

“Because they are the fifth team at the club they are known as Cirencester D but we’re stressing at the club that the ‘D’ stands for development. That’s very important to us because we want to bring on the younger players.”

And Cirencester are certainly doing that with a number of their younger players going on to play for national league clubs.

That’s not something that the club would ever prevent them from doing of course and building up relationships with others in the sport of hockey is another thing that is very important to Willett as the club continue to flourish.

“We’ve established much closer links with the Royal Agricultural University,” said Willett, “so much so that our 1st XI captain this season, Kit Lamb, is a final year student at the RAU.

“He’s a goalkeeper and he’s a good player.”

The club’s flagship team are playing in Conference North this season after last season’s promotion – the men’s 3rd XI were also promoted – and Willett added: “I think Conference North is a good level for a club like ours. It will be challenging but that’s what we want.”