Last week The Hockey Museum (THM) had the pleasure of welcoming David Balbirnie, the Museum’s International Hockey Federation (FIH) nominated Trustee, to our Woking home. The appointment of Irishman Mr Balbirnie, the former European Hockey Federation Hon. General Secretary, to THM Board Of Trustees is a sign of the Museum’s increasingly international focus developed through its close working relationship with the FIH. Moreover, it is a further testament to the FIH’s continued support of and commitment to the work of the Museum that began with 2015’s Memomardum Of Understanding and has evolved to faciliate the appointment of Collections Manager Karen Clarke and the recent commissioning of a study to scope hockey’s worldwide heritage.

Mr Balbirnie (pictured right with THM Curator Mike Smith) was given the ‘royal tour’ by Smith who, in turn, handed over to the Museum’s on-site volunteers to run their guest through the various aspects of the collections on which they each work.

All in all, a successful visit and one that promises an ever closer relationship between the Museum and our sport’s governing body. For his part, Mr Balbirnie expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome he received and his pleasure at witnessing the Museum first hand, all of which bodes rather well for when we open our doors to the public from March.

Shane Smith, January 2016