England Hockey is the national governing body for the sport of

field hockey in England Field hockey in England is usually referred to simply as "hockey" instead of field hockey, whereas other variants of hockey, such as ice hockey, are referred to by their full name. The sport is played on astroturf pitches. The sport is played ...

. There are separate governing bodies for the sport in the other parts of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

History and organisation

England Hockey 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. 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 East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

, Midlands,

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

, South and

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

, and county associations below. England Hockey is affiliated to the

European Hockey Federation The European Hockey Federation is a European sports federation for field hockey, based in Brussels. It is the umbrella organisation for all European national federations, and organises the Euro Hockey League. Marijke Fleuren was elected presiden ...

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 Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In sport, if a sport is g ...

, 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 the gold at the Olympic Games on Rio in 2016.

Current England Squad

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

Clubs

Over 841 clubs across England and the Channel Islands affiliate to England Hockey. The Hockey seasons for clubs are split into the Winter season running from mainly from September to April and the Summer season running from May to August.

New National Hockey Stadium

Following the success in London 2012, the new national stadium for Hockey relocated 500 yards to the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis centre. The first rate facilities at the £30million Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre include two hockey pitches capable of seating 3,000 and can be scaled up to 15,000 with temporary overlay. Lee Valley has already hosted the European Hockey Championships in 2015 and the Women's Champions Trophy Event in 2016, The Men's World League Round 3 in 2017 and the Hockey Women's World Cup in 2018 will also be staged here. 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 Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

) 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 Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

Competitions

England Hockey runs a series of senior competitions over the course of a year: * Leagues ** Men's England Hockey League **

Women's England Hockey League The Women's England Hockey League is a field hockey league organised by England Hockey that features women's teams from England. From 2011-2020 it was sponsored by Investec and was referred to as the Investec Women's Hockey League. Format Regula ...

* Women's Outdoor ** England Hockey Women's Championship Cup ** Investec Women's Trophy ** Investec Women's Vase ** Women's Second XI Cup ** Women's Second XI Plate * Men's Outdoor ** England Hockey Men's Championship 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 - Nick Pink * Commercial Director - Jonathan Cockroft * Development Director - Richard Beer * Finance & Administration Director - Ian Wilson * Performance Director - Ed Barney

References

External links

* Great Britain Hockeybr>
Main England hockey organisations
Official site for England HockeyOfficial site for England Hockey Junior PagesNational Programme Umpires Association
{{EngSport Field hockey governing bodies in England, National members of the European Hockey Federation Organisations based in Buckinghamshire Sports clubs in Berkshire Sport in Milton Keynes

Hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

Sports organizations established in 2003 Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead 2003 establishments in England