Old rivalries resumed, new contests born, it's Masters Hockey time in London.
Teams from across Europe are coming together for the European Masters hockey tournament, running alongside the Unibet EuroHockey Championships 2015.
Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain, France and all the British home nations have representative teams across a range of age-group events – both cup competitions and trophies.
While much of the hockey world has its eyes on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and the EuroHockey Championships, a programme of exciting and high quality matches are also being played at venues across London, Essex and Hertfordshire, with some of the age-group finals taking place at the EuroHockey Championships venue - Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre.
Following an eventful opening day at the Eurohockey Championships, the Masters Championships kicks off today and will feature 92 teams across a number of competitions.
The wide-ranging programme of events includes the Women’s Masters 40+, 45+, 50 + and 55+, the Women's Grand Masters, the Men’s Masters 40+, 45+, 50+ and 55+, the Men’s Grand Masters 60+, 65+, 70+, 75+ and the Men’s Grand Masters 60+, 65+, 70+ tournament trophies.
All of the tournaments are run in association with the International Masters Hockey Association, IMHA (Over 40s to Over 55s) and World Grand Masters Hockey Association, WGMA (Over 60s to Over 75s).
The tournaments are being run at three separate venues with the Men’s Over 40’s to Over 55’s at Oaklands College home of St Albans Hockey Club, the Men’s Over 60’s to Over 75’s at Southgate Hockey Club and Women’s Over 40’s to Over 60’s at Old Loughtians Hockey Club.
On Monday 24 August, fans have the chance to watch three Masters matches at the world class hockey centre at Lee Valley in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. These include:
10:00 – Mens Over 60’s, England v Belgium
12:00- Mens Over 55’s, England v Wales
14:00 – Women’s Over 40’s, England v Wales.
Many of the teams will field players who have played at international level and the play is guaranteed to be competitive and high quality.
Bronze medal-winning Olympian and Great Britain and England international Kath Johnson, who is playing in the over 45 age group said: "I am really excited about playing for England again. I regard it as a honour. Looking at our opponents, we had a tough game against Ireland in the Home Countries and any game against the Dutch will be tough."
And Welsh international Eirian Fox added: "The team is awesome to play alongside, whatever the result. We came second at the home nations to England and have been training hard to go one better against them. We played the Dutch in the World Cup last year and we are definitely looking forward to resuming that rivalry."
The match schedule and results for all age groups can be viewed on https://masters.altiusrt.com/#competitions_previous and you can get regular updates by following @Euro_Masters on Twitter.
Whilst all of this is taking place, eight men's and eight women's national teams will be battling it out for the European titles at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The winners of both competitions will also guarantee qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
For more information about the event, and to buy tickets, visit:http://eurohockey2015.co.uk
Photo: Adrian Boehm/Irish Hockey Photographers
