THE JACKY MURRAY 7-A-SIDE TOURNAMENT
AND WE ARE BACK
What a weekend it was and yes, we are definitely back and running, with over 100 players from across the whole of the United Kingdom enjoying the opportunity to make new friends and renew the friendships made during the past nine years. The amazing atmosphere generated during the weekend was extraordinary and hockey must be the only game where players from the age of eight to 87, men and women, boys and girls can play together and against each other in the same game with total respect and consideration for each other.
Happy birthday Brian Woolcott who celebrated his 87th birthday on Sunday 7th April and thanks to Brian and the LX Men who welcomed 8-year-old Isaiah to join their team and play with them in one of their games
The first ever English Veteran Grand Masters 7-a-side regional hockey tournament for men aged 75+ was the brainchild of Bill Greenwood and was held at Wrenn School in Wellingborough over the weekend of April 11th-12th 2015. The tournament grew over the years with teams from Wales, Scotland, Alliance, LX Men and LX Ladies joining the fray. Age groups became more flexible, and members of KHC stepped up to enter teams if necessary as well as playing for any team who needed them throughout the various tournaments.
There have however been a few ups and downs lately with the dreaded Covid outbreak and it was a big disappointment that, with numbers reduced, KHC had to cancel the 2023 tournament. Not to be outdone the LX ladies committee took over the running of a very much-reduced event which still took place that year.
A huge thank you to the LX Ladies Committee who agreed to continue organising the event this year, and in memory of our wonderful friend and playing partner the tournament was re-named the Jacky Murray 7-a-side tournament. It is down to the hard work by the LX Ladies committee that the tournament has flourished this year and this has enabled all of you to come along and play competitive hockey in a friendly and fun-filled atmosphere.
I would like to thank all of you for being so supportive of our young players and particularly our umpires some of whom were obviously rather nervous about taking on umpiring duties at such a prestigious event. Your support and consideration has given them confidence and hopefully they will all continue to develop their skills
We hoped you all enjoyed the gathering at KHC on Saturday evening and many thanks to all of you who donated raffle prizes, an amazing £378.00 was raised for Jacky’s charity. Thanks to Jake for the slide show – some of the photos will be put onto the LX ladies website shortly and following the tie break for the quiz we now all know how many different species of cuckoo there are !!
This was not intended to be a hugely competitive competition. . . . . . . but hey-ho we are all extremely competitive people, or we wouldn’t still be running around like crazy folks. Some of you have been asking about the results so here goes.
On Saturday Kettering A were 1st with Oddbods runners up and in group B LX Men were 1st with Wales O65’s runners up.
The following day LX Men won the group C fixtures with Wales taking 2nd place, and in group D the Thistles were 1st with Alliance runners up.
This was the first time we have run a tournament in this format so please feel free to give us any feedback and we will adapt and change things as necessary.
Finally, the tournament was a great success and at the end of the day that is entirely down to all of you who came along and made it happen.
Report by Jan Randle. There are more photos in the gallery.
LX Ladies 