The LX Hockey Club, usually referred to as simply the ‘LX Club’, was formed in 1995 to provide a vehicle to select the best players of over 60 years of age to compete in matches and tournaments of a national representative nature with similar teams from other countries, and to develop fixtures with other super veteran teams in the UK. Over the years the LX Club has expanded greatly and now offers LX members the opportunity to participate in matches against Club Veteran and Masters sides, UK short tours, weekend events, regular games amongst LX members, as well as participation in overseas tournaments, including World Masters Hockey (WMH) sanctioned World Cup and European Cup tournaments, other overseas tours and matches. Over the years the LX Club has participated in tournaments in Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, Italy, South Africa, Spain, Malaysia, South Korea and also toured in Australia (twice), South America, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan.
Besides offering its membership a full program of hockey throughout the year the LX Club is very keen to promote the social side of hockey and encourages, at all times, the inclusion of members’ wives and partners. There are two specific events during the year, the Summer gathering and the Christmas gathering, to which wives and partners are specifically invited.
The club has a current membership of over 500 members from all over England of whom some 400+ continue to play hockey with ages ranging from 58 to 80+ years. Many of the club’s playing members are selected to represent England Grand Masters teams at over 60, 65, 70, 75 and even over 80 age groups to play in national and international competitions.
Membership is open to all players aged 58 years or older who continue to play hockey on a regular basis as well as non-players, e.g. umpires, coaches, team managers, etc., of any age and who have an interest in Masters hockey. The club is run by a management committee of some 13 members which include the Regional Representatives representing the current 5 English playing regions, West, Midlands, North, East and South. It should be noted that starting for the season 2021-22 there will be 8 playing regions with the North being split into North West and North East and the South being split into South East, South Central, Greater London and the West being renamed as South West. For the time being the LX Club will be retaining the 5 current Regional Representatives.
The club does not have a home base but makes use of local club facilities around England for their fixtures and club events. Committee meetings are convened around 6 times a year and are held either in person at the Olton and West Warwicks Sports Club, as this is reasonably central, or virtually using the Zoom application.
This website holds a history of the LX Club, information on membership, committee members, current fixtures and recent club news. Further detail on the history of the LX Club can be found by following the LX Club History link and more information on the early years of the LX Club is to be found by following the LX Club Early Years link. The achievements of the LX Club over the years at European and World tournaments, both when representing England and in its own right, can be found by following the Grand Masters results link.
Fixtures
Fixtures form a key component of the LX Club’s activity. This website holds details of all fixtures for the forthcoming season together with the respective Match Manager. The website also provides links to venues and team/squad selection, when known, along with post-match results, reports and photographs. Members are strongly advised to look at the website regularly for updated fixture information and to let the Team Secretary know of their availability by registering for a fixture or fixtures via the website.
The LX Club fixtures can, in general terms, be categorised as follows:
- other club Veteran and Masters teams open to all club members
- age group fixtures where the LX Team is identified by age group, e.g. LX o60/o65
- open intra-club days which are open to all club members
- over 70 intra-club days which, as the name suggests, is restricted to those aged 70 or over. These are held as it is recognised that as one gets older the opportunities to play reduce
- social events which include some hockey. These include the Summer and Christmas gatherings, HoTeGo (Hockey, Tennis, Golf), Lakes tour
- overseas tournaments such as Lille (France), Tilburg (Holland), Eburons (Belgium) and Bra (Italy)
- WMH sanctioned international tournaments such as European Cup and World Cup.
Although the club produces a hard copy of the fixture list annually the fixture list is updated, changed and added to during the year and these updates are notified through this website.
Team Selection
For most fixtures the team selection is undertaken by the Match Manager, working in conjunction with the Team Secretary, to select a team of usually 13 to 14 players from the list of members who have registered that they are available via the website. This is why it is important to register, if you do not register you will not get selected. In some cases, depending on the nature of the fixture, e.g. known ‘younger’ opposition, the Match Manager might have to call on other members, who have not registered their availability, in order to supplement the team so as to provide appropriate opposition. It should be noted that priority is always given to those members who have registered.
Once the Match Manager has made his selection both the selected and non-selected members are notified of the decision. This should take place some 3 to 4 weeks ahead of the fixture in order to give time for members to make appropriate arrangements.
For the major annual competitions, i.e. the WMH sanctioned European and World Cup Spirit of Masters competitions, the teams to represent the LX Club at the different age groups are selected by the LX Selection committee on the basis of trials usually held early in the year. For other non-sanctioned international tournaments, e.g. Tilburg, Eburons, the selection is based on member registered availability with input from the LX Selection committee.
