In these troubling times we find hockey and daily life disrupted in unprecedented ways: domestic seasons have gone unfinished; national and global events have been postponed; families and friends are enduring physical disconnect in ways not experienced for generations. And yet through all this the ‘hockey family’ has risen to the occasion. Moments of light-hearted frivolity and community spirit have defied the present situation to reveal the power of hockey to bring people together and raise spirits, even when we cannot physically meet.
The Hockey Museum (THM) is launching a campaign to collect and record the impact of coronavirus on hockey nationally and globally, from grassroots to elite level, as well as hockey’s role in combatting the subsequent separation and upheaval. This will ensure that future generations can learn about and understand the strange and unsettling period through which we are currently living.
The campaign is made up of two exciting strands:
- Collecting contemporary physical and digital material; and
- A time capsule activity pack for children (scroll to the bottom of the page).
For a few examples of what we’ve been able to collect already, click here and here.
Please share this as loudly and as widely as you can!
Contemporary Collecting #CollectingCOVID
THM’s coronavirus collecting covers both physical and digital material across some of the following areas:
- Memorabilia or archival material relating to Tokyo 2020 or Easter festivals that is now redundant, including design work and concept art that won’t now see the light of day.
- Fundraising by hockey players of any level for the NHS, essential workers or similar COVID-19 related causes.
- The experiences of ‘hockey family’ medical personnel (doctors, nurses, physiotherapists etc.) during the pandemic.
- How hockey players, clubs and associations have responded/adapted to the coronavirus disruption including:
- The domestic season finishing early;
- Tours and festivals being cancelled;
- Annual/anniversary dinners being cancelled;
- AGMs being rescheduled or embracing technology to hold these digitally.
- Digital connectivity during the pandemic:
- Methods and examples of players and clubs managing to stay in touch remotely and keep positive, connected and active.
- Original footage of coronavirus-related digital content, e.g. social media posts such as the club keepy-up loo roll challenge montages, Sam Ward’s Isolation Olympics etc.
- Oral histories relating to the above areas of contemporary collecting.
In addition, THM is also searching for material related to the previously cancelled Olympic Games: Berlin 1916, Tokyo 1940 (which briefly became Helsinki 1940), and London 1944.
Please get in touch by email if you have anything relevant to donate. Engage with the wider #CollectingCOVID movement on social media.
THM Time Capsule #THMTimeCapsule
The Hockey Museum has created the THM Time Capsule pack for children and families, which is free to download as a printable PDF by clicking the PDF icon to the right. It has been designed to use minimal ink.
Encourage your children to complete the fun activities so that they can reflect back on their situation, thoughts and feelings when they are older.
Please scan and email the completed pack to THM so we can record it. Keep the original for you and your children to enjoy. And be sure to share these efforts with THM on social media using the hashtag: #THMTimeCapsule
