England

The fixtures for the forthcoming Investec Women’s Hockey League season have been announced (please see attached PDF).  Once again, thanks to the support of Investec, prize money will be on offer for the best teams and athletes. The winners and runners-up of each of the four divisions, as well as third place in the Premier Division and each division’s Player of the Season and top goal scorer will collect the rewards at the end of the season.

NOW PENSIONS MEN’S CUP, FINAL

Hampstead & Westminster (1) 1                             
David Edmonds 3 (F)                                                                                      

Surbiton (2) 3
James Royce 16 (PC)
James Hamlyn 22 (F)
Rob Schilling 65 (F)

NOW PENSIONS MEN’S VASE, FINAL

Guernsey (1) 2                 
Matt Watson 32 (F)
Drew Clark 59 (PC)                                                                          

Lewes (1) 3
Ole Callf 29 (F)
Alex Warner 65 (PC)
Chris Marchant 75 (F)

NOW PENSIONS MEN’S TROPHY, FINAL

Winchester (1) 2                             
Stuart Tognarelli 4 62 (PC,F)                                                                                     
Ashbourne (1) 1
Chris Beastall 23 (F)

Taxi: England Hockey players George Pinner (l), Simon Mantell (c) and Ashley Jackson (r) in a NOW: Pensions taxi - Getty ImagesLONDON, April 8 - England Hockey have announced a new sponsor, a new GB men's centralised programme and a new squad to set out on the road to Rio 2016.

Skipper Barry Middleton, Richard Smith, Nick Catlin, Ashley Jackson, Rob Moore, Dan Fox, Iain Lewers, Harry Martin and George Pinner (reserve keeper in London) are retained from the Olympic line-up.

BISHAM ABBEY, March 14 - England Hcokey have marked a change of direction with the appointment of a pool of assistant coaches working with both the men's and women's squad.

Jon Bleby, Craig Keegan and David Ralph have been appointed to the role of assistant coaches to work with the England men’s and women’s squads.

In a shift away from recent practice the three new appointments will see Bleby, Keegan and Ralph working across both the men’s and women’s squads for the 2013-2016 Olympic cycle. The trio will join Karen Brown to complete the assistant coach team and together they will support head coaches Jason Lee [women] and Bobby Crutchley [men].

Building on London 2012:: England captain Kate WalshLONDON, February 26 - London has been selected to host a women’s hockey World League semi-final in June.

Alongside England, Olympic silver medallists Argentina, Australia and China all gain automatic qualification to the round, given their top eight ranking.

The remaining four women’s teams will be decided following the completion of the World League Round 2 in Brazil in March.

New challenge: Jason Lee. will take charge of the England women's hockey side - photo: Ady KerryLONDON, February 4 - Jason Lee has been appointed head coach of the England women’s team, but will not take up his role until his former position as men's head coach is filled.

Lee, 42, who has led the England and Great Britain men’s hockey teams as head coach for three Olympic cycles, will then take the women's side on as far as Rio 2016.

England Hockey decided not to reappoint Lee for the 2013-2016 men's cycle. This followed a fourth-place finish at the London 2012 Games.

But Lee was identified as the best candidate for the women's post when his application was compared with applicants from across the globe.

Marsha Marescia: Don't be fooled by results in 'unofficial' testsCAPE TOWN, February 3 - Marsha Marescia, the co-captain of the Investec South African women’s hockey team, said on Sunday that not too much can be read into the results of the unofficial internationals leading into the Investec Challenge, which starts at Hartleyvale Stadium in Cape Town on Monday night.

“Those matches were performance-driven rather than results-driven, whereas from Monday when we play our first Investec Challenge match [against England at 8 pm] the outcome will be very important,” said the 302-times capped Marescia, who will lead the team alongside Lenise Marais.

The Investec Challenge will see world number one and London 2012 Olympic Games gold medallists The Netherlands, world number four and London 2012 bronze medallists England (as Great Britain), world number six Australia and world number 11 South Africa playing each other in a round-robin format before next Saturday’s semi-finals and next Sunday’s medal matches.

Co-captain: Laura Unsworth - hockeyimages.co.ukLONDON, January 24 - England have named eight uncapped players and just two members of the GB London 2012 bronze-medal winning side in their squad for the Investec Challenge in South Africa.

Laura Unsworth and Nicola White are the two 2012 Olympican with further experience coming from Pinoke’s Beckie Herbert – three international caps short of a century - and Reading pair Susie Gilbert and Sam Quek

Of the other athletes selected, goalkeepers Maddie Hinch of Leicester and Kirsty Mackay of Bowdon Hightown, and Canterbury pair Dilly Newton and Susannah Townsend were involved in the Great Britain training squad leading up to last summer’s Olympics.