The Optimists were proud to host the England Hockey Men’s O65’s Masters Tournament at the weekend. The sun was shining on Saturday morning as we welcomed the eight regional teams to Three Hills. With a round robin format, we were set for twenty eight games to see who would come out on top and go home with the Trophy and Gold Medals!

We had St John’s Ambulance present, Canterbury Christ Church University Students offering physio sessions for free to help keep everyone fit to play, and Helen Ritchie taking action photographs (www.helenritchiephotography.co.uk). Three Hills staff worked hard over the two days, with a busy bar and an evening meal for the teams. Thank you to them all for supporting the tournament.

To stage an event like this takes a lot of volunteers and I want to say a big thank you to the following –
Match Officials – Erin, Kersten, Dave P, Laurel, Natalie, Izzy P, Will M
Setting up/packing away – Ann, Dave B, Dani, Simon B, Etta, Rachel C, Issy T, Allegra, Josh B
Pitch Side Support – Immy, Abi, Poppy

A special ‘Thank You’ to Kay, Tournament Organiser. We worked hard together to prepare and present another tournament on behalf of the Ops and SE Masters. It is always a delight to hear visiting players and coaches praising our facilities, the umpires, officials and the staff at Three Hills.

With narrow score lines across most of the weekend, the medals were decided in the very last round of matches.

Champions – West
Runners Up – Midlands
Bronze – North West.

We look forward to further opportunities to host Masters Tournaments for England Hockey in the future.

Janet Fuller
Tournament Director