"Inspire a Generation"
With 100 days to go this was the games motto unveiled earlier this week. It does resonate, particularly as I think of the Hockey Nation programme, and the work already underway there to do just that. 5 days, 66 visits, 5000 kids visited by GB players through February and March kicked us off in terms of Inspiring a Generation, with many more exciting inspirational events to come.
I frequently visit clubs around the country and today I was fortunate enough to visit Thirsk HC in North Yorkshire for their pitch opening. I arrived in typical April weather, a mixture of sunshine and showers to see hundreds of people milling around the pavilion and resurfaced pitch at the school and sixth form college.
I always enjoy seeing so many young people playing, and today I saw the full range, from those who are just learning to walk knocking a ball around, to those representing at JRPC. As usual, these sorts of sights have a certain way of making you feel all is well in the world for those few moments.
What I wasn't expecting was to be so in awe of a simple conversation had between two men, who I hope wont mind me saying are slightly older than I.
Chris Darling, recently retired from the Board of England Hockey joined me today to open the pitch and hand out awards. As we were readying ourselves for the awards ceremony, we were introduced to the clubs President, Colin Gell. There was a moment and Chris and Colin shook hands and looked at each other slightly unsure of who was going to speak next.
Chris said "Colin?"
Colin said "You're never Chris Darling?" "What happened to your hair? Well at least you still have some I suppose" as he motioned towards his own head.
As the conversation grew, it transpired that they had met many years ago playing at Warrington HC, where I believe Chris is still a trustee. After the awards they sat down and recollected their days together and caught up on the days since then. Colin only stopped playing 16 years ago, aged 65.
Colin mentioned that he was delighted to see so many people had turned up and how may young people there were. He explained that in "his day" there were not the opportunities there are today for people to pick up a stick and enjoy a fun day at the pitch. This lead to the inevitable conversation of grass pitches and the quality of them, followed by the next inevitable question "you wont remember, you'll be too young". No no, sadly I'm not.
I do remember all too well the muddy hockey fields both at school and for some league matches in my early playing days. I remember watching the more experienced around me pick a ball that was in effect a bouncing bomb with startling precision, and move it on before you could say v drag. Far from it creating for me memories of cold, muddy pitches as some people will recount, I remember going back to the changing rooms surrounded by people who loved playing the game, and loved showing us youngsters how it was done, peeling off the muddy socks and being proud of the bruises I'd gathered whilst trying to stop the bounding bombs.
Those people all inspired me, so much so I seem to have followed my love of the sport into a full time career.
Those people all inspired me, so much so I seem to have followed my love of the sport into a full time career.
Chris and Colin continued to talk, and enjoyed the buffet which rivalled any cricket teas I've ever seen. There were some young leaders and coaches there today, who gave speeches about the teams they look after and you could see how enthused the U10 and U12 girls in particular were by the 17 year olds who had been working with them for the last season or more. I wondered how much those girls know about the positive role models they are and I also wonder how many of the children they work with will follow in their shoes in years to come.
Today was one of those days where you feel real community spirit, I'm sure only a glimpse of things to come as the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics arrive, but it struck me today for the first time that the days we are currently living in, and those to come over the next 97 days or so, will create for many of us the memories we will talk about as Chris and Colin did today. We talk in hockey alot about The Hockey Family and it was lovely to see today a part of that family reunited and others being introduced for the first time. I was inspired today by seeing Colin still wandering around the pitch at 80 years old, inspired by Chris volunteering to umpire this afternoon, inspired by the young leaders giving their time and by all of the club members who worked hard to make today, and every day happen for Thirsk HC. I was also inspired to try and make some of the amazing Cup Cakes one of the parents made.
When I heard the motto Inspire a Generation I immediately thought of the GB athletes across all sports being responsible for that inspiration, but the games and the jubilee give us so much more than that. It gives us an unparallelled opportunity to come closer together as communities and as a nation to inspire each other in a variety of ways, those younger than us, those older than us. I wonder how many people we have all inspired in any way today, I wonder if Colin would know he inspired me to write this.
Enjoy the next few months, for those of us in hockey it will most certainly be memorable.
