England Hockey is the national governing body for the sport of
hockey in
England. There are separate governing bodies for the sport in the other parts of the
United Kingdom. It was formed on 1 January 2003 to replace the
English Hockey Association (EHA) which had had to suspend operations 2002 because of significant financial problems. The English Hockey Association had in turn been formed in 1996 to combine the function of the separate governing bodies for men’s, women’s and mixed hockey.
Following the demise of the EHA, England's international hockey was for a time managed through a separate limited company called World Class Hockey Limited, which was funded entirely by
Sport England. These operations were merged back into England Hockey on 1 July 2005. The second tier of hockey administration in England consists of six Regional Associations – East, Midlands,
North, South, West and the Combined Services, and below that there are county associations.
England Hockey is affiliated to the
European Hockey Federation and
International Hockey Federation. It runs a number of competitions, including the
English Hockey League.
While UK hockey is organised by separate bodies for each of the
home nations, the United Kingdom is required to enter a combined team in the
Olympics. This has created tensions between the governing bodies and those responsible for the Great Britain teams, which have performed disappointingly since Great Britain's men's team won...
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