England Win Bids to Host Two Further International Hockey Tournaments

November 11, 2013

Following the recent announcement that England will host the women’s Hockey World Cup 2018, drugs England has also won the bids to host two further major international tournaments.

England will also host the Women’s Champions Event in 2016 and the Men’s World League Round 3 in 2017.

With the EuroHockey Championships already secured for August 2015, there’s now an exciting calendar of major international hockey events to look forward to in this country, with back-to-back tournaments from 2015 to 2018.

The purpose-built Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre on London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, is currently being developed as part of the hockey legacy following the London 2012 Olympic Games and will host the events.

England Hockey Chief Executive Sally Munday commented: “It’s such fantastic news for our sport to have back-to-back events hosted in this country. We put a huge amount of work into these bids, so we’re all delighted. This will really help us raise the profile of hockey and deliver a lasting legacy of participation.

“We’re extremely grateful for the support given to us from our partners including the London Mayor’s Office and UK Sport, who have committed to significant funding to help us stage these events which will benefit the hockey and sporting communities in this country hugely.

“I’d also like to thank new Minister for Sport Helen Grant for her support, who I’m sure will be a valuable supporter of our sport in the coming years.”

The Women’s Champions Event in 2016, Men’s League Round 3 in 2017 and World Cup 2018 all form part of UK Sport’s Gold Event Series, which is investing £27million of National Lottery funding to bring up to 70 world-class events to Great Britain to help build a strong legacy from London 2012.

Liz Nicholl, Chief Executive of UK Sport, said: “Through UK Sport’s Gold Event series we will be bringing major hockey championships to Great Britain on a regular basis from 2015.

“Supporting the staging of these high profile, world-level events demonstrates our commitment to helping to build a strong legacy from London 2012. Hockey is doing an excellent job building on their medal success in London and it is particularly pleasing to have won these bids which will showcase our committed, skilful and talented role models to inspire the next generation.”