Stourport HC played their first Veterans game against Harborne at the Hadley Stadium, approximately 20 years ago. The team included Pip Woster, Peter Harris, Ken Mothersdale, Roy Woster, Neil Stone, Peter Madden, Michael Taylor and David Read. In the true spirit of Vets hockey someone was late and young Alex Woster played the first 20 minutes aged 11.
We have been successful in maintaining our strong traditions and at least one player is late to every game still.
David Read took over the reins and ensured this was a successful and enjoyable facet of Stourport Hockey, with high standards maintained ever since. Until the advent of Summer Hockey leagues we played regular fortnightly fixtures throughout the season.
Worcestershire County Hockey Association introduced a Veterans Cup, which Stourport were fortunate enough to win in the first three seasons. Alas this no longer takes place.
Stourport first entered the HA Over 40’s Veterans Cup sometime in the 1990’s, with mixed results. However, latterly the performances have been good with a will to perform to a high standard. We have reached two finals, a semi-final and the quarter finals in the last five years. Under the Captaincy of Bruce Baron we will be looking to go one step further this time around.
We aim to play high quality, attacking hockey and are always competitive on the pitch, but of course we remain predominantly a social team.
In cup competitions we aim to be as competitive as possible and are seeking to win the EHA National Veterans Cup, however in friendlies we look to enjoy our hockey with a mix of players of all ages and abilities.
We are always looking for new opposition so if you fancy a game get in touch.
We do not encourage those new fangled reverse stick shots.
We play hard and run slow.
We play friendlies for Over 35s throughout the season, typically on Wednesday evenings starting at 8.00.
We are also happy to entertain non-vets sides or a mixture of Veterans and youth players of an appropriate standard (Loughborough Students need not apply!). If you want to play some hockey in the week let us know.
We enter a more competitive side into the EHA Veterans Cup which is played on Sundays.
We welcome all Clubs and teams to our Club house at Kingsway, in Stourport where we have some of the finest facilities in the Midlands.
We have two sand-based astros side by side adjacent to the clubhouse with excellent floodlighting for our evening matches – most important once the eyesight starts to fade!
We train hard every week, which mainly comprises of discussing tactics (the Frank Colwill Clinic) and the pros of grass hockey.
1992 NICK MANTLE
1993 NEIL STONE
1994 ROY WOSTER
1995 LEE BARON
1996 KEITH WILLS
1997 BOB TAYLOR
1998 FRANK COLWILL
1999 STEVE MORRIS
2000 GODFREY LAMB
2001 ROBIN CONWAY
2002 STEVE ELLIS and DAVID READ (Special award)
2003 DAVID BEDFORD and ROY WOSTER (Special Award)
2004 DAVID KNOTT and NEIL STONE (Joint Winners)
2005 No Presentation
2006 No Presentation
2007 No Presentation
2008
We always welcome new players and new opposition so if you want to play some hockey, with us or against us get in touch!