Bishop's Stortford Hockey Club is a

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

club in the town of

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The club plays in the East Region Hockey Association. The home ground is located at

The Hertfordshire and Essex High School The Hertfordshire and Essex High School and since 2004 named as ''The Hertfordshire & Essex High School and Science College'', commonly referred as Herts and Essex is a secondary level comprehensive single-sex school and a mixed-sex sixth form ...

, where both the clubhouse and pitch are located. The club has 800 active members and fields a total of fourteen senior sides, six men's and eight ladies' playing in the East Hockey Leagues. The Men's 1st XI play in the East Men's Division 1 South and the Ladies 1st XI play in the Vitality Women's Conference East. Bishop’s Stortford Hockey Club has been reaccredited for another 3 years (2022-2025) as a ClubMark club (

Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded par ...

), making the club one of a select number across England to achieve the

England Hockey 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. History and organisation England Hockey was formed on 1 January 2 ...

ClubMark status. BSHC_Pitch

History

The club formed in 1948 and games were played at

Cricket Field Lane Cricketfield Lane is a cricket ground in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire. The earliest recorded match on the ground was in 1862 between Bishop's Stortford and an All-England Eleven. In 1895 Hertfordshire played their first Minor Counties Cham ...

Hockerill Anglo-European College Hockerill Anglo-European College (formerly known as Hockerill School) is an international state boarding school with academy status located in Bishop's Stortford. In 1850, Hockerill was founded as a teacher-training college for schoolmistre ...

and

Sawbridgeworth Sawbridgeworth is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, close to the border with Essex. It is east of Hertford and north of Epping. It is the northernmost part of the Greater London Built-up Area. History Prior to the Norman ...

. The club barely raised a team in the early days, players relied on getting to away fixtures by train and taxi due to the lack of motorcars after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1969 the club was elected to the Hertfordshire County League and the East Central League in 1972. Promotion to the East Region Hockey Association was gained in 1975. The club had a number of successes over the years including County Champions in 1974, 1981 and 1986, East runners-up in 1982 and H.A. Cup quarter finalists in 1982 and 1986. Later successes include the integration of the Ladies Hockey Club and partnership in 1993 with

. In 2019 Bishop’s Stortford Hockey Club moved from

, where a state of the art pitch and clubhouse overlooking the pitch with floor to ceiling windows and a balcony was built. The project has been a collaborative one, with funding coming from a variety of bodies and institutions including the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for child protection, child services, education (compulsory, further and higher education), apprenticeships and wider skills in England. A Department ...

, Hertfordshire County Council, East Herts District Council,

, Bishop's Stortford Judo Club, Bishop's Stortford Hockey Club as well as staff, students, parents, friends and families.

Senior Section

The Ladies 1st XI had back to back promotions starting from 2019, where they become champions of both the East League Division 1 South and a year later champions in the East Premier Division. This saw the Ladies 1st XI for the first time in club history play in the Vitality Women's Conference East league.

Junior Section

The clubs junior hockey caters for children from ages 5 to 18 and provides an opportunity to the local schools in the area, where hockey is not a mainstay of the PE or extra-curricular offer. The club also offers to other groups such as a new initiative in partnership with Grove Cottage to offer disability hockey. Overall the club has developed a thriving junior section with over 500 members and runs hockey camps throughout the year, such as hockey training programmes with EVO Hockey. The junior section recently linked up with investment services group Ravenscroft, who'll be known as the “Ravens”. The sponsorship will help provide several hockey programmes for children aged from 5 to 16 in the local community. The sponsorship of the Bishop’s Stortford Ravens aims to encourage young players to learn and develop their hockey and team skills through sessions organised in club and community environments, as well as local schools such as

, Northgate Primary, Windhill Primary and Fawbert & Barnard Infant’s Primary. Ravenscroft BSHC

Olympic Legacy

The 2012 London Olympic brought an increased visibility to

Field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

, where 630,000 people watched live hockey during the event, a pattern of continued growth in the sport has emerged and Bishop’s Stortford Hockey Club used this opportuning to attract new and returning players to their Vitality Back to Hockey programme in partnership with

Honours

Men's

*East Premier B Champions 2006-07 *East Premier A Runners-up 2002-03 *East Premier A Runners-up 2000-01

Women's

*East Premier Division Champions 2021-22 *East League Division 1 South Champions 2019-20 *East League Division 2 SW Champions 2016-17 *East League Division 2 SW Champions 2009-10

Notable Players

The club has a number of current and former international players still involved with coaching or playing at Bishop's Stortford Hockey Club. In addition a number of senior members still represent their country at Masters level.

Internationals

; ; ;

References

{{reflist

External links

Bishop's Stortford Hockey Club website

England Hockey website

East England Hockey

GMS Fixtures England Hockey

Bishop's Stortford Town Council and Tourist Information

England Hockey Bishop's Stortford HC

Hockey Fixtures BSHC
English field hockey clubs 1948 establishments in England Sport in Hertfordshire Sports clubs established in 1948 Sports clubs Bishop's Stortford England Hockey League