England Hockey

England Hockey

Industry	Sport - Hockey
Founded	2003
Headquarters	Bisham, Marlow
Website	www.englandhockey.co.uk

England Hockey is the national governing body for the sport of field hockey in England. There are separate governing bodies for the sport in the other parts of the United Kingdom. It was formed on 1 January 2003 to replace the English Hockey Association (EHA) which had had to suspend operations 2002 because of significant financial problems. The English Hockey Association had in turn been formed in 1996 to combine the function of the separate governing bodies for men’s, women’s and mixed hockey.

History and organisation

Following the demise of the EHA, England's international hockey was for a time managed through a separate limited company called World Class Hockey Limited, which was funded entirely by Sport England. These operations were merged back into England Hockey on 1 July 2005. The second tier of hockey administration in England consists of five regional associations: East, Midlands, North, South and West, and county associations below.

England Hockey is affiliated to the European Hockey Federation and International Hockey Federation. It runs a number of competitions, including the English Hockey League.

While UK hockey is organised by separate bodies for each of the home nations, the United Kingdom is required to enter a combined team in the Olympics. This has created tensions between the governing bodies and those responsible for the Great Britain teams. However the women's team have been performing well, winning a bronze at the Olympic games in London 2012 and most recently winning a bronze medal at the Argentina Hockey World League.

Current England Squad

The current England Men and England Women Hockey teams train at Bisham Abbey National Sport Centre just outside Marlow.

Former National Hockey Stadium

Until early 2009, England Hockey was based at the former, purpose-built, former England National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes, but the cost of running the stadium was one of the factors that led to the demise of the English Hockey Association. The ground was leased to Wimbledon (later Milton Keynes Dons) football club in 2003 and has not been used for hockey since then. On 17 December 2009, demolition of the stadium began, the site is now used for a new national HQ for Network Rail.

Competitions

England Hockey runs a series of senior competitions over the course of a year:

• England Hockey Leagues
  • NOW: Pensions Men's Hockey League
  • Investec Women's Hockey League
• Women's Outdoor
  • Investec Women's Cup
  • Investec Women's Trophy
  • Investec Women's Vase
  • Women's Second XI Cup
  • Women's Second XI Plate
• Men's Outdoor
  • NOW: Pensions Men's Cup
  • NOW: Pensions Men's Trophy
  • NOW: Pensions Men's Vase
  • Men's Second XI Cup
  • Men's Second XI Plate
• Mixed Outdoor
  • Mixed Trophy
  • Mixed Plate
  • Men's Senior County Championships
• Indoor
  • Maxinutrition Hockey 5s Championships

In addition to these, there are also several indoor and outdoor junior competitions for both schools and clubs, as well as masters' competitions for over 45s.

Board of Directors

• Chief Executive Officer - Sally Munday
• Performance Director - Danny Kerry
• Development Director - Richard Beer
• Commercial Director - Jon Cockroft
• Finance & Administration Director - Ian Wilson

See also

• Field hockey in Great Britain

External links

• Great Britain Hockey [1]

Main England hockey organisations

• Official site for England Hockey
• Official site for England Hockey Junior Pages
• National Programme Umpires Association

Regional Hockey Associations

• North Hockey Association [2]
• Southern Counties Hockey Association [3]
• East Region Hockey Association [4]
• Midland Regional Hockey Association [5]
• West Hockey Association