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In these troubling times we find hockey and daily life disrupted in unprecedented ways: domestic seasons have gone unfinished; national and global events have been postponed; families and friends are enduring physical disconnect in ways not experienced for generations. And yet through all this the ‘hockey family’ has risen to the occasion. Moments of light-hearted frivolity and community spirit have defied the present situation to reveal the power of hockey to bring people together and raise spirits, even when we cannot physically meet.

The Hockey Museum (THM) is launching a campaign to collect and record the impact of coronavirus on hockey nationally and globally, from grassroots to elite level, as well as hockey’s role in combatting the subsequent separation and upheaval. This will ensure that future generations can learn about and understand the strange and unsettling period through which we are currently living.

The campaign is made up of two exciting strands:

1. Collecting contemporary physical and digital material; and
2. A time capsule activity pack for children (scroll to the bottom of the page).

For a few examples of what we've been able to collect already, click here and here. 

Please share this as loudly and as widely as you can!

Contemporary Collecting   #CollectingCOVID

THM’s coronavirus collecting covers both physical and digital material across some of the following areas:
 

• Memorabilia or archival material relating to Tokyo 2020 or Easter festivals that is now redundant, including design work and concept art that won’t now see the light of day.
• Fundraising by hockey players of any level for the NHS, essential workers or similar COVID-19 related causes.
• The experiences of ‘hockey family’ medical personnel (doctors, nurses, physiotherapists etc.) during the pandemic.
• How hockey players, clubs and associations have responded/adapted to the coronavirus disruption including:
  • The domestic season finishing early;
  • Tours and festivals being cancelled;
  • Annual/anniversary dinners being cancelled;
  • AGMs being rescheduled or embracing technology to hold these digitally.
• Digital connectivity during the pandemic:
  
  • Methods and examples of players and clubs managing to stay in touch remotely and keep positive, connected and active.
  • Original footage of coronavirus-related digital content, e.g. social media posts such as the club keepy-up loo roll challenge montages, Sam Ward’s Isolation Olympics etc.
• Oral histories relating to the above areas of contemporary collecting.

In addition, THM is also searching for material related to the previously cancelled Olympic Games: Berlin 1916, Tokyo 1940 (which briefly became Helsinki 1940), and London 1944.

Please get in touch by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have anything relevant to donate. Engage with the wider #CollectingCOVID movement on social media.

THM Time Capsule   #THMTimeCapsule

The Hockey Museum has created the THM Time Capsule pack for children and families, which is free to download as a printable PDF by clicking the PDF icon to the right. It has been designed to use minimal ink.

Encourage your children to complete the fun activities so that they can reflect back on their situation, thoughts and feelings when they are older.

Please scan and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. the completed pack to THM so we can record it. Keep the original for you and your children to enjoy. And be sure to share these efforts with THM on social media using the hashtag: #THMTimeCapsule

Dive into The Hockey Museum's quizzes and games, which feature regularly in our fortnightly Hockey Shorts mailshots.

You can receive this and other museum updates, historical stories and 'wow moments' that arise from our day-to-day work direct to your inbox by joining up to our mailing list.

Click here to subscribe.

Click one of the categories below to see that type of quiz:

• Frozen In Time (multiple choice)
• General History Of Hockey (multiple choice)
• History Of Hockey Crosswords
• Hockey Picture Quizzes
• Jigsaw Puzzles

Honours caps are caps that are presented to individuals or teams to commemorate or mark a special occasion, or reward a special achievement. Historically these have been issued in various sports and are considered a highly valued item by its holder.

The evolution of the modern game of hockey occurred during the Victorian era, with the creation of real leisure time brought about by changes in legislation between 1833 and 1847. The formation of works teams began, with the influence of their public school educated management. The awarding of player-issued sporting caps at public schools had been common place for some time and was now beginning to surface in these new clubs, being formed outside of the public schools and colleges with the influence of their ex-pupils.

With the information currently available to us, we know that the awarding of caps to hockey players at club and international level can be traced back to at least the time of the first international matches in 1895. This is not to say that they were not awarded prior to this, but documented records regarding these early days of hockey are often sketchy at best. Our journey to identify the early caps at all levels has only just begun and we will continue to update this page as the history unfolds.

The first Ireland hockey team 1895 – with caps. Courtesy of the Irish Hockey Archives.		Picture of the Wales Hockey Team from Hockey magazine, 4 March 1898.

Today, to be capped is an expression used as a measure of how many times someone has played for a particular team. The awarding of physical caps does not take place every time and is often an award, akin to a trophy, for milestone appearances.

The frequency of issuing at different times in history, at different levels of the sport and in different countries varies considerably; we are on a mission to document as much of this information as we can. As an example, the Irish hockey team began issuing caps to players at their first game in 1895. If they played in subsequent years then these years would be embroidered on the original cap. Nowadays, they only issue caps for landmark achievements, e.g. 50, 100 or 200 caps.

Player-Issued Caps At The Hockey Museum.

The Hockey Museum (THM) currently has a small but growing selection of caps which we are keen to build upon.

We are also keen to find out more about the history of these often undocumented items and have embarked on a programme to find out more details of when and why caps were issued by both international and local teams.

Recent endeavours have led us to the discovery of an early Wales international hockey cap. With early photographs being in black and white, and little known written information about them, it has taken some time to verify that it was awarded for hockey. Both staff and volunteers at The Hockey Museum, with assistance from Hockey Wales have allowed us to clarify this and bring this item to its rightful home at the museum.

The cap was awarded to Reverend William Edwyn Jones who won his first cap for Wales on 10 Feb 1906 and last cap on 8 March 1913. Please contact us for more information on this cap and details of its provenance.

Below are some other examples of caps currently residing in the museum’s collection, showing both older caps as well as more modern ones.

Two Midland Counties Hockey Association caps, from THM collection.

Two caps awarded to Maggie Souyave in honour of her England appearances, from THM collection.

We are keen to increase this collection to gain more information about caps that colleges, clubs and national teams have issued during their history.

If you have any caps or information and would like to share this with us, or if you have any caps that you would consider donating, please contact THM's caps expert This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Leaving a legacy is the most personal donation an individual can give and it will make a huge difference to securing The Hockey Museum's future. It is very simple to leave a legacy gift to The Hockey Museum. You can easily add a legacy to your existing Will using a codicil. We recommend that you consult a legal advisor or your solicitor to help you write or update your Will.

Legacy bequests to registered charities are free from Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax and recent changes mean that if you leave 10% or more of your estate to a registered charity then Inheritance Tax will only be 36% of the remainder of your estate.

THM is always keen to discuss potential legacy donations and build positive and mutually beneficial relationships with donors. Please make contact though our online contact form to express your interest.

Do You Want to Donate Archive Material or Artefacts to The Hockey Museum?

The Hockey Museum (THM) is keen to hear from anyone who has objects or archival material relating to the history and heritage of hockey and would like to find a safe home for them. This could be anything from a collection of books to a box of club records, from original hockey boots to old fixture cards, from scrapbooks of hockey tours to matchday programmes, from club or international kit to a reel of old cine-film depicting hockey matches.

See the Artefacts and Archives section of the website for more information on the type of material THM collects and to download the Museum's Collections Development Policy.

We have a growing collection of hockey paraphernalia and official records that have been kindly donated to us by hockey supporters from around the world, yet the story of our sport is far from complete. We know that many interesting items of hockey heritage has been lost over the years and THM wants to ensure that from now on, all those boxes of hockey records, kit, trophies and other gems get offered to the Museum first rather than ending up in a skip. Even if we ultimately must decline a donation of material, we can advise of alternative heritage venues who might be interested in acquiring it.

If you would like to donate items to THM or discuss loaning items to THM, please contact us through our online form. The Hockey Museum will only consider loans into the collection in exceptional circumstances.