EuroHockey President, Marcos Hoffman presents the book Hockey in Catalonia
to Mike Smith, President and Honorary Curator of The Hockey Museum.

In early October we were very honoured to receive a visit from Marcos Hofmann, the President of EuroHockey, formerly the European Hockey Federation. Those of us at the Museum had not met Marcos before but it was an absolute delight to meet him and realise what a true hockey enthusiast he is and how interested he is in the history and heritage of our sport.

It is fair to say that he was stunned by the work that The Hockey Museum (THM) is doing and by the collection of heritage material that he saw. He has vowed to return as soon as possible, and we look forward to developing relationships with Marcos and EuroHockey.

During his visit, Marcos presented us with a very special book, Hockey in Catalonia, which is published in Catalan not Spanish. Very kindly, they have also produced copies of their splendid history in English and one of these is now in the THM Library.

A display of European hockey heritage material from THM’s collection, created especially for Marcos’s visit.

Hockey in Catalonia

The following is from a chapter of the book gifted to THM by Marcos Hofmann, president of EuroHockey. Hockey in Catalonia is a celebration of the centenary of the Catalan Hockey Federation and Catalonians are very proud of the fact that their regional organisation is actually one year older than the Spanish Federation.

Hockey in Catalonia by Josep Maria Biosca, gifted to The Hockey Museum by Marcos Hofmann.

This chapter outlines Catalonian hockey history, with their earliest reference to hockey – or at least stick and ball games – in Spain, from over 600 years ago. It never ceases to amaze us how many historical references are out there and how they keep popping up! The book contains information and photographs of carved reliefs in the choir of Barcelona Cathedral that date back to the last decade of the 14th century. It may not be a game of hockey with teams, a pitch and goals, but it is a group of men with sticks and balls. Is it hockey? You will have to draw your own conclusions.

Read the chapter from Hockey in Catalonia by clicking the PDF icon below. Reproduced with permission of the Federació Catalana de Hockey.