England Hockey have announced their decision to implement all of the rule changes announced by the FIH in January 2019 except one - the move to 15 minute quarters.

In domestic hockey, the elite level will play four 17.5 minute quarters without stopping the clock for short corners. Elite level is all divisions of the England Hockey leagues and Tier 1 of the Adult Club Championships. All other domestic hockey will be played in halves, two x 35 minutes (or shorter halves for junior formats).

For Sutton Coldfield HC that means that the Ladies 1XI will play 4 x 17.5 minutes in their Investec Women’s Hockey League Conference North Fixtures. All other teams will continue to play their league matches at 2 x 35 minutes.

Our (non official) summary of key changes:

A free hit to the defence in the D may be taken from anywhere within the D - or still be taken up to 15 m in line with the offence
If the ball hits a piece of equipment lying in the D that prevents a probable goal, a penalty stroke may be awarded
For a free hit within 5 metres of the D, if a quick self-pass is taken, defenders within 5m can play the ball when the ball legitimately enters the D. If no quick self-pass is taken then all defenders must retreat 5m
If, during a short corner, any attacking player enters the D before the injector plays the ball, then the injector is sent to the halfway line
No more kicking back - teams must either play with a goalkeeper or 11 outfield players
If playing with 11 outfield players, during a penalty stroke the defending player may only wear a face mask and may only save with their stick

For more details read the England Hockey article here you can see the full FIH rules here.