There are Masters and then there are Grand Masters, and this summer, in The Hague, hockey fans will be able to see some of the great names from hockey from almost four decades ago still strutting their stuff on the astroturf during the Masters Hockey World Cup. The Masters event is one of the side events that is running at the same time as the Rabobank World Cup.
Over 60s (Grand Masters) Hockey started in the Netherlands in 1988, largely on an informal basis, through friendships formed from years on the hockey field. In the early 90s, a couple of international matches were played between The Netherlands, Belgium and France. In February 1995, a tournament for over 60s was held in Lille, France, with players from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France and England.
The first World Cup tournament took place in Athens in 2004, with Scotland and Italy among the new teams to join the movement. Meanwhile in Australia, veterans hockey was big news with all states and territories within the Commonwealth of Australia playing in an annual tournament in various age divisions. Since then there have been regular tournaments and test events between teams of various veteran categories between Europe and Australia. A Japanese team also toured the Netherlands in 2005.
The formalisation of Grand Masters Hockey began after the 1998 Utrecht World Cup. A subsequent meeting in 2002 in Kuala Lumpur at the 2002 Grand Masters World Cup, resulted in the formation of the World Grand Masters Association (WGMA). A strategic plan was developed between the members of the WGMA Executive Board aiming to provide a structure for international veterans over 60s hockey. It was decided to seek recognition of WGMA by FIH which would enable them to develop, assist and promote Veterans Hockey in age categories over 60s, 65s and later the over 70s. This recognition by the sport's governing body was achieved in 2006.
In September 2006, the Grand Masters World Cup in Leverkusen, Germany, ran parallel to the main World Cup tournament in Mönchengladbach. 12 teams participated in over 60s, and 8 teams in the over 65s in a mixture of national and tournament trophy events. Since then, the Grand Masters Hockey has become a regular fixture, attracting a growing number of teams and nationalities.
More than 74 teams will be competing in the 2014 Masters World Cup in a range of age groups. These teams are from countries as diverse as Egypt, Austria and Ghana, and are ample evidence that hockey can become a lifelong passion. The Masters World Cup will be held in The Hague, 3-13 June.
