Tochi Panesar has been very passionate about hockey for as long as he can remember. His family can vouch for this as, over the years, hockey may have taken priority over the odd family engagement!

Tochi was born in the Indian state of Punjab. At the age of five he and his family migrated to Nairobi, Kenya where his love of hockey was sparked. In 1971 he finally settled in England when he moved to South London.

The first club he joined in England was Merton Hockey Club, followed by Hampstead HC. In 1975 he joined Spencer Hockey Club and has been loyal to them ever since! At Spencer, Tochi captained the First XI in the 1980s for six years, played for most of the teams on the ‘way down’ and has since captained the Masters team for a number of years. He had also enjoyed being an integral part of the club’s leadership, taking on the roles of Club Captain, Chairman and President of the Hockey Club. He went on to be Chairman of the Spencer multi-sports club for ten years.

Tochi has played county hockey and has been a member of prominent invitational clubs, for example London Indians, Lusitanians, and Members HC, forging strong friendships along the way. He has also enjoyed coaching both colts teams and senior teams, and has played and managed the Surrey over 60s team, and the South Divisional over 60s and 65s teams. Tochi still enjoys regularly playing for the Spencer Grand Masters team. He also played in the over 65s Masters World Cup in Barcelona in 2018 and the European Cup in Antwerp in 2019.

In business Tochi worked in the IT industry with Lloyds Bank for 30 years, specifically within the banking service delivery and infrastructure environment, where he held a number of senior roles and delivered major infrastructure projects. He retired in 2004 and since then he has spent time with family, taken on voluntary roles at Spencer and also worked as an IT freelancer.