Okehampton Columbines Hockey Club has secured National Lottery support for their Centenary celebrations and Club Heritage Exhibition for past and present players and the Community                                                    

Okehampton Columbines Ladies Hockey Club has received a National Lottery grant of £7400 for their Centenary Celebrations and Club Heritage Exhibition which takes place in September in Okehampton. 

This exciting project for the Club has been made possible by money raised by National Lottery players and awarded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.  The Centenary Celebrations focus on creating an exhibition depicting the history of the Club and also inviting past and present hockey players, along with the community to a celebratory weekend.

The project will enable the Club to mark this occasion with a Celebratory weekend on the 7th and 8th of September 2019.

A group of volunteers from the Hockey Club will research and investigate the heritage of the Club to produce a physical archive which will be exhibited in The Pavilion in the Park at the Celebratory weekend and afterwards in the Museum of Dartmoor Life in Okehampton.  This exhibition will include past hockey equipment, committee minutes, Treasurer's records and fixture cards from over the years.  Past photos and match reports will be exhibited as well as recordings of memories from past players.  The Club will liaise with the England Hockey Museum who they hope will be able to contribute to the exhibition and provide information on how hockey has evolved over the past 100 years.  Club history will also be researched in Devon County and West of England archives.

The Club have submitted a request to our Governing Body, England Hockey, for a current international player to attend our celebrations and run coaching sessions for junior players.

Junior hockey coaching and matches are planned for the day of September 7th with young players from local community being invited. This will make the day even more memorable with the involvement of an international player. 

There will be the opportunity for any past and present players to join in with a game and skills on the current All-weather pitch and also on grass pitches, followed by an afternoon tea in The Pavilion in the Park.

In the evening there are plans to hold a Centenary dinner and dance for all past and present players and friends.

On Sunday 8th September the Club will hold a hockey tournament inviting teams from throughout Devon to include the Devon Hockey community in the celebrations.

An Okehampton Columbines Ladies Hockey Club Centenary website will be created as a method of recording the information collected and making it available to a wider range of people so that they can engage with hockey heritage. 

Commenting on the award, Club Chairman Sandra Houston said: ‘We are thrilled to have received this support thanks to National Lottery players and look forward to researching and investigating the heritage of the Columbines Hockey Club and then sharing it with past and present players as well as the community’

For further details please email okehockey100@btinternet.com