World Class Hockey Limited: Sport England and England Hockey are delighted to announce a £500,000 per annum boost for hockey for the next four years as agreement was reached between England Hockey and the Great Britain Olympic Hockey Board over preparation and qualification for the Olympic Games. Under the agreement England is the nominated country to qualify on behalf of Great Britain for the Beijing Olympics.
The annual £500,000 Sport England investment will support England Hockey in its work to develop elite hockey players and ensure optimum preparation for the Olympic Games. The investment is part of Sport England’s four-year funding for hockey and its release was conditional on close co-operation between England Hockey and the Great Britain Olympic Hockey Board on this issue. Sport England has released the investment in light of the progress made.
Roger Draper, Chief Executive of Sport England, said: “We are determined to succeed in our drive to make England an active and successful sporting nation. To achieve this we are focused firmly on progress, modernisation and delivery. As such we are delighted at the positive developments in hockey and have therefore decided to release this annual £500,000 investment into the sport. This funding, the agreement and co-operation between England Hockey and the Great Britain Olympic Hockey Board should all help the sport to boost its international position as it looks ahead to preparations for the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008.”
Philip Kimberley, Executive Chairman of England Hockey, said: “As the nominated country for Great Britain Hockey, we’ve worked very hard over the last few months to agree how we better prepare our athletes to qualify for Beijing. I am delighted that Sport England has seen fit to release this money within our four year funding programme. We can now focus absolutely on qualification.”
Roger Self, President of the Great Britain Olympic Hockey Board, said: “The Hockey Associations of Scotland and Wales are fully supportive of the Sport England initiative. The Board shares the determination of the British Government to provide realistic solutions to secure Olympic Games qualification and thus the opportunity for British hockey players to perform at the highest level.”
