| Field hockey in Great Britain | |
|---|---|
| Governing body | Great Britain Hockey |
| Nickname(s) | GB Hockey |
| First played | Early/mid 1800s. |
| Registered players | Estimate 32,000 |
| Clubs | 1145 (~1050 English ~60 Scottish ~35 Welsh) |
National competitions | |
Great Britain Super League (defunct) | |
Field hockey in Great Britain is governed by Great Britain Hockey. The organisation focuses on international competition only. [1]
GB Hockey administers the National Men's and Women's hockey teams for both Great Britain and the home nations during competition such as the Olympic Games, Hockey World Cup and other international events.
Domestic competitions are organised on the home nation basis by England Hockey, [2] Scottish Hockey, [3] Welsh Hockey, [4] and Irish Hockey. [5]
The Great Britain Super League was established by Great Britain Hockey in 2007 as a showcase for British hockey talent. The event was shortlived running from 2007 until 2012 and is now defunct. The inaugural teams were from England (Wessex Leopards, Saxon Tigers and Pennine Pumas), Scotland (Caledonian Cougars and Highland Jaguars) and Wales (Celtic Panthers) competing. Players from the national leagues represented their relevant region.
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Home Nations is a collective term with one of two meanings depending on context. Politically it means the nations of the constituent countries of the United Kingdom. In sport, if a sport is governed by a council representing the island of Ireland, such as the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), the term can refer to the nations of the constituent countries on the island of Great Britain and the island of Ireland as a whole.
Association football is organised on a separate basis in each of the four constituent countries that make up the United Kingdom (UK), with each having a national football association responsible for the overall management of football within their respective country. There is no United Kingdom national football team. Football has been the most popular sport in the UK since the 1860s. Rugby union, rugby league and cricket are other popular sports.
Sport in the United Kingdom plays an important role in British culture and the United Kingdom has played a significant role in the organisation and spread of sporting culture globally. In the infancy of many organised sports, the Home Nations were heavily involved in setting out the formal rules of many sports and formed among the earliest separate governing bodies, national teams and domestic league competitions. After 1922, some sports formed separate bodies for Northern Ireland, though many continued to be organised on an all-Ireland basis. For this reason, in many though not all sports, most domestic and international sport is carried on a Home Nations basis, and England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland are recognised as national entities.
The United Kingdom national football team are a football team that represents the United Kingdom. Despite football being the most popular sport in the country, the team has not played since 1965 as separate teams represent each home nation in all major international football tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship, as well as various friendlies. It is the home nations which are FIFA affiliated and not the United Kingdom as a whole.
The United Kingdom has been represented at every modern Olympic Games, and as of the 2020 Summer Olympics is third in the all-time Summer Olympic medal table by both number of gold medals won and overall number of medals. London has hosted the Summer Olympic Games three times: in 1908, 1948, and 2012.
The Scotland women's national field hockey team represents Scotland in international women's field hockey competitions, with the exception of the Olympic Games when Scottish players are eligible to play for the Great Britain women's national field hockey team as selected. Scotland recently participated in the inaugural season of the FIH Hockey World League, but were knocked out in round 2, failing to qualify for the 2014 Hockey World Cup in The Hague, Netherlands. As of November 2015 they are seventeenth in the FIH outdoor world rankings.
The Great Britain men's national field hockey team represents the United Kingdom in some international field hockey tournaments such as the Summer Olympics and the FIH Pro League. The team won gold at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp and the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. The team won the 2017 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
The Ireland men's national field hockey team is organised by Hockey Ireland and represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in international men's field hockey competitions, including the Men's Hockey World Cup and the EuroHockey Nations Championship. They have previously competed in the Men's Intercontinental Cup, the Hockey Champions Challenge, the Men's FIH Hockey World League and the FIH Hockey Series. The team also competes at the Summer Olympics, though it officially only represents the Republic of Ireland then, while still selecting players from the entire island. On 26 January 1895 Ireland played in the first ever international field hockey match when they defeated Wales 3–0 in Rhyl. Ireland were finalists and silver medallists at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Ireland were also bronze medallists at the 2015 Men's EuroHockey Nations Championship.
Sport in England plays a prominent role in English society. Popular teams sports in England include field hockey, cricket, rugby union, rugby league, and netball. Major individual sports include badminton, athletics, tennis, boxing, golf, cycling, motorsport, and horseracing. Cricket is regarded as the national summer sport. Association football is the most popular sport, followed by Cricket, Tennis and Rugby. A number of modern sports were codified in England during the nineteenth century, among them cricket, rugby union, rugby league, football, field hockey, bandy, squash, tennis, and badminton. The game of baseball was first described in 18th century England.
Sport in Wales plays a prominent role in Welsh culture. Like the other countries of the United Kingdom, Wales enjoys independent representation in major world sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup and in the Rugby World Cup, but competes as part of Great Britain in some other competitions, including the Olympics.
Sport in Europe tends to be highly organized with many sports having professional leagues. The origins of many of the world's most popular sports today lie in the codification of many traditional games, especially in the United Kingdom. However, a paradoxical feature of European sport is the extent to which local, regional and national variations continue to exist, and even in some instances to predominate.
Rugby union is a popular sport in the British Isles, including England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The game was arguably invented in 1823 by William Webb Ellis, and in 1871 the English Rugby Football Union was the first national rugby football union to be founded. It is organised separately in each of these countries, and also on an all-Ireland basis.
The Great Britain women's national field hockey team represents the United Kingdom in international field hockey tournaments such as the Summer Olympics.
The Great Britain women's Olympic football team represent the United Kingdom in the women's football tournament at the Olympic Games. Normally, no team represents the whole of the United Kingdom in women's football, as separate teams represent England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The British Basketball Federation, known as British Basketball, is the national sports governing body for basketball in Great Britain. It organises Great Britain teams for men and women in international competition. Northern Irish players normally compete for Ireland, but are also eligible to compete for the GB.
Iain Lewers is a field hockey player from Northern Ireland who represented Ireland, England and Great Britain at international level. He represented Great Britain at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. He was also a member the England teams that won bronze medals at the 2011 Men's EuroHockey Nations Championship and 2014 Commonwealth Games. He also represented England at the 2013 and 2015 Men's EuroHockey Nations Championships and at the 2014 Men's Hockey World Cup. In both 2014 and 2015 Lewers was named the England/Great Britain Player of the Year by the Hockey Writers' Club.
The Ireland women's national field hockey team is organised by Hockey Ireland and represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in international women's field hockey competitions, including the Women's Hockey World Cup and the Women's EuroHockey Nations Championship. They have previously competed in the Women's Intercontinental Cup, the Women's Hockey Champions Challenge, Women's FIH Hockey World League and the Women's FIH Hockey Series. The team also competes at the Summer Olympics, though it officially only represents the Republic of Ireland then, while still selecting players from the entire island.
Mark Gleghorne is a field hockey player from Northern Ireland who has represented Ireland, England and Great Britain at international level. He represented Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Gleghorne was a member of the England teams that won the bronze medals at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games and at the 2017 Men's EuroHockey Nations Championship. He also represented England at the 2014 and 2018 Men's Hockey World Cups. At club level, Gleghorne was a member of the Instonians team that won the Irish Senior Cup in both 2002 and 2004. He was also a member of the Punjab Warriors team that won the 2016 Hockey India League title. Gleghorne is a member of a family of field hockey internationals. His younger brother, Paul, is an Ireland international. Two of his aunts, Margaret Gleghorne and Jackie McWilliams, were also Ireland and Great Britain women's internationals.
David Vincent Leslie Ames is an Irish field hockey player, who plays as a defender or midfielder for Oranje-Rood and the England and Great Britain national teams.
The Men's FIH Pro League is an international men's field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH), which replaces the Men's FIH Hockey World League. The competition also serves as a qualifier for the Hockey World Cup and the first edition also did for the Olympic Games.
