The Museum’s stand at the Investec London Cup held at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in the Olympic Park was a great success, attracting even more visitors than last year’s stand and proving a hit with adults and children alike.
The display of sticks is always popular with visitors particularly keen to try the old English head version and how to dribble with it.
Also popular were the postcards and the new ‘Hockey In Art’ section as well as the image of hockey being played in schools in the early 19th century and the original 2012 Olympic Results board.
Many primary school children entered the Museum Quiz and the winner will be announced shortly. Many children had not played hockey and this demonstrated the importance of Educational Outreach which is something on which the Museum is working hard.
The event was a good opportunity for the Museum to work with England Hockey ahead of next year’s European Championships at the same venue. For this we plan to develop a Heritage theme and an outreach programme to link in to 50 local primary schools.
Particularly welcome were European Hockey Federation Vice President, Jorge Alcover, the brother-in-law of FIH President Leandro Negre, and EHF Communication and Marketing Manager, Siobhan Madeley.
Other visitors included Richard Kendrick, Irish Hockey Association president and a former Olympic and World Cup umpire, Peter Wright, a South African umpire who was officiating at the tournament, and David Sweetman, the new Scottish Hockey CEO.
Also visiting were Ruth Parr, who has completed a Masters thesis on early 20th century schoolgirl hockey in North London, and the parents of the English, Scottish and South African captains, from whom we hope to receive donations of kit.
A very busy four days that once again highlighted the importance of history and heritage within our sport.
Mike Haymonds, 29 July 2014
