Chaperones no-hoper in the sticks? (5)
I believe the answer is:
canes
'the sticks?' is the definition.
(cane is a kind of stick)
'chaperones no-hoper' is the wordplay.
'no' suggests deleting specific letters.
'chaperones' with 'hoper' taken away is 'CANES'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for canes that I've seen before include "Bamboo stems" , "Sticks to lean on" , "Dogs classically" .)