HOCKEY IN GOSPORT – SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
As spoken by Alan Walker former SE HantsYouth Hockey Development Officer on 18 June2016.
Some 300 past and present members variously attended events during the Day which was opened by MP for Gosport Rt HonMs Caroline Dinenage and later attended-for several hours- by The Mayor of GosportCouncillor Lynn Hook and her Consort and husband Councillor Mark Hook
'It is most appropriate that we are gathered here at St Vincent College in GOSPORT to celebrate what amounts to the most recent Chapter in the Gosport Hockey story.(re Celebration of25th Anniversary of Club Refounding 18 June 2016).
Hockey has certainly been played HEREin the former Forton Barracks as the home ofthe Royal Marines Light Infantry from 1848(Some ten years into Queen Victoria’s Reign) until the move of our “Red Marines”to amalgamate with the “Blue Marines” atRM Eastney in 1923.
The game of Hockey was formalised Nationally for the Men under a Governing Body-THE HOCKEY ASSOCIATION-in 1886 andseparately for the Ladies in 1896under their own Governing Body-THE ALL ENGLAND WOMEN’S HOCKEY ASSOCIATION.
The Hampshire Hockey Association was founded by Ten clubs-including Gosport- in 1898 . One of our teams to this day-The GBHC 1898s- commemorates that occasion 119 years ago. It is certain that one of Gosport Hockey’s early representatives at Hampshire meetings was a Major H Gillespie of The Royal Marines Light Infantry.
Teams fromHMS EXCELLENT , Portsmouth Services , Haslar Hospital ,HMS Dolphin, Havant , Fareham and Portsmouth were also active around the turn of the Century and there is evidence of Armed Forces personnel playing for civilian clubs even then.
Queen Victoria had developed close links withthe Borough of Gosport not least via herlinks to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight from local Rail and Ferry links to and from Stokes Bay Pier..
When sadly Queen Victoria’s reign came to an end in January 1901 ,those rail links conveyed the Monarch’s Coffin to London and thence to Windsor where ,mounted upon a Gun Carriage , the Coffin was pulled by mounted Cavalry through the streets of Windsor –escorted by a 100 strong Guard of RoyalNaval Blue Jackets under the command of two Hockey playing Naval Officers Sub Lieutenant Percy LH Noble RN and Midshipman IshamW Gibson RN.
It was reported that such was the outpouring of grief by the public in the streets of Windsor that it caused the Cavalry horses to become “restive” , a” Potential danger to the public”-and giving rise to the unspoken “ What If”ifthe Coffin should be disturbed…..
Noble and Gibsonpersuaded their (more Senior) ArmyCavalry Colleagues to unharness theirhorses ,where upon The 100 Sailors picked up the traces and the funeral Processionproceeded to Frogmore under Sailor Power.This gave rise to the tradition ,still perpetuated, thatat subsequent Monarch’s Funerals, he Coffin mounted on Gun carriage will always be escorted in this way by Royal Navy Sailors marchingfore , alongside and aft ,pulling the traces .These two young Hockey players both went on to represent the Royal Navy at Hockeyand were bothinvested MVO by Queen Victoria’s Son ,later King Edward V11 . Both became Admirals… NOBLE was invested with the Honorarytitle of Rear Admiral of the United Kingdom.
The game and Hockey in Hampshire having survived the 1914-18 War,the game continued to developas before.
After the Marines had vacated Forton forEastney The establishment was rebuiltas a Boys TrainingUnit .Percy Noble as Captain Percy Lockhart Harnham Noble was the first Captain of The Boys Training Establishment HMS ST VINCENT –ON THIS VERY SPOT- in the period 1927-1928 .Except for a short break during WW2, HMS ST VINCENT remained as a Boys Training Establishment for 42 years until 1968 .
THE HOCKEY CAREEROF ALAN WALKER
I joined the Navy from a local School in 1960 an OK Cricketer and Hockey Player and a pretty rubbish footballer-I stayed in the Naval Service for almost 51 Years.
My Hockey Heroes were a former PTILt Cdr Basil Middleton and Chief Staff PTI John”Joe” Binks. These two picked me out as a future Hockey Coach and got me down here to SAINT VINCENT on what was a wonderful grass hockey pitch (The RN had hosted THE INDIAN AIR FORCE HERE IN 1962 ) just over the road and gave me a personalised course in 1967/8 season for 2 or 3 days. I had just become a CPO and very soon went off to sea again .By the time I returned-by nowwith a level 3 Coach Award - I was promoted Sub Lieutenant 23 July 1973 and appointed to( The Former RAF GOSPORT which had become HMS Siskin and thence) HMS SULTAN for three years.
In that time I was appointed Coach to the Navy Junior Team ,first Outdoors , then Indoors Then tothe Armed Forces teams…..
Whilst at Sultan ,I and Military colleagues were instrumental in running Coach Awardcourses for Militarypersonnel and there was always a ready supply of Civilians on whom we could call-in effect to ensure a course would have sufficient numbers if our Military numbers showed signs of dwindling due to Military Priorities-In this way rock solid links were built up with local Clubs and Personnel .
I do not think anyone really noticed that the Gosport Hockey Clubscene was not as strong as hitherto and in the early 70s there emerged a teacher at Brune Park School –one John LAW- who was instrumental inThat GOSPORTSECONDARY School being at the forefront of Hockey Nationally .
My HMSSultanADULT Team always had trouble beatingBrunePark SCHOOLBOYS and for a decade or so in the 70s/80s , LAW –having formalised his CONSIDERABLECoaching talents and qualifications on one of the NAVY Courses- proceeded to take his Lads Off to Trojans in Southampton(Hampshire top dogs at the time) .In time those lads gravitatedto Fareham and Havant as well from Law’s England Junior under 16 and under 18 teams…..MY naval career and my Coaching continued to the point where I was Head Coach of the Armed Forces butWith NO experience of Coaching Under 16s and below …….
I spent the whole of the 1986MensHockey Centenary World Cup taking my Annual Leave as England’s Video Man and no-one was more proud than me When England’s David Whitaker climbed up to my video nest (after I had recorded all 42 Matches) and presented me with an England Tracksuit. Shortly afterwards I was honoured by being appointed a Staff Coach of The Hockey Association (there were only ever Two such appointments made within the Military – To My Hero Basil Middleton and Now Myself.!
Stage 3 of my Naval Career came upon me in the mid to late 80s when I was a Lieutenant Commander whenThe Directorof Navy Sportinvited myself and others to attend interview for the post of Royal NavySports Officer. To cut a long story short I stayed as Lt Cdr Alan Walker RN Sports officer for another 25 Years-on the way accepting a part time Youth development role to balance up My Coaching CV..
In this latter role , I wouldvoluntarily adjust my Military Working day to 0600-1400 and thenset up/visitAfter Schools Clubs in Portsmouth ,Havant ,Gosport and Fareham and steer interested children to the local Club with an introductory letter. A young man from Haselworth Primary in GOSPORT15 DEMANDEDto know after a particularly enjoyable session in the school playground why there was Not a Club in Gosport –And that is why we are here today…. Myself and a few Friends helped The Borough to restart the club which had quietly gone under ten or 15 years earlier and players had gone elsewhere…
Far from me being the Founder of Hockey in Gosporta better , more correct description might be
A Facilitator who together with a few friends and colleagues helped Interested Persons to Reform a Town’s Hockey Club from 1990 until 2004- thereafter taking a Vice Presidentialback seat having been reminded by his Naval Bosses of exactly who it was that was paying his mortgage and –of course there was a Centenary of Armed Forces Hockey coming along in 2008/2009….
I was especially grateful to Tracey Webb and her family and Gaynor Toms and her family for picking up the Gosport Hockey Baton and running with it when my circumstances dictated a change of course .I feel incredibly proud that one of our own -Gaynor TOMS- of St. VincentCollegeStaff has recently taken up the England Hockey appointment of Clubs Liaison and Development Officer to all Hockey Clubs in the South of England .She can have gained no better introduction than by serving this Great Hockey Club in this forward looking Borough for 25 years .
Tributes should Also be paid to:-Several Naval and Fleet Air Arm Coaches including Vic Martin ,Mike Worrall, Ron James, David Lewis Snr. and Jnr , Jack and Pam Dempsey and Les and Sheila Marshall . Civilian Coaches Steve Cook and Bryan Pickett gavethe most stalwart of Coaching and Managerial help over many years.
Generous help camefrom Local clubs especially Havant HC ,City of Portsmouth HC , United Services Portsmouth HC ,and Fareham HC , not forgetting lots of local Schools especially Bay House , Brookfield ,Henry Cort. The Crofton Schools ,Lee-on-the-Solent Juniors and Alverstoke Juniors . Siskin Junior –and InfantSchools were alsogreat supporters .
That most Important element of all-the support of Countless Mums and Dads, Sponsors and above all Gosport Borough Council where Alderman Don LUCAS was a Prime Mover.
We reformed the Club at Privett Park on 10 November 90 , our first match took place in January 1991. 25 years on there have been several seasons as Hampshire –and South- Champions. We have Twice been National Champions and our Boys and Girlswere both Millennium Youth Games Champions of Hampshire.
Some Dedicated families have been present for the full 25 years THEY are the real Heroes including The familiesCree , Price , Mitchell ,Adams/Toms , Boyland ,Lewis ,Higgins, Webb,Holyer and Coughlin to name just a few.
The 2016 Committee of some 20 enthusiasts under President Alan Higgins and Chairman Crawford Foster takes us onwards and upwards…Much credit is due to our adopted Dutchman Sander Meysen who with his team of Coaches continues to keep our Junior and Mini sections UP THERE with the best in the Country.
Finally would you please join me in congratulating Our Social Secretary –Michelle Dean for devising –and for seeing it through-the incredible Progamme of events we have before us today.
ALAN WALKER VICE PRESIDENT GBHC 15 JUNE 2016. Amended /updated 23 June2016