Celebration of Fifty Years of the LMHA 1948 - 1998 : There were still 4 clubs in the Mixed Section of the LRHA in
1998 which were here 50 years before: Teams played a mixture of all the other teams in the Festival, with the idea that teams rarely get the chance to compete against some of the other clubs, especially the ones at the other end of the spectrum, so why not, for a change? Teams were allowed to field players from other teams as necessary, to keep the numbers up. This seemed to work well, with everyone joining in the spirit & fitting in as many games as possible. There was the added interest of the Global Hockey Travellers, a team built from Dutch & German hockey playing friends of some of the Bedouins teams. The first day was spoilt a little by the poor weather conditions. This set a damp atmosphere for the first hour or so. A couple of early injuries also hindered the enjoyment for some (especially those injured). As the weather became brighter and the organisers got into the swing, things progressed quite nicely. The Umpires did an excellent job throughout, especially on that first day. There were five pitches in action and only ten Umpires. It was certainly a decent workout for players & Umpires alike. The weather was far brighter the second day. The fixtures were re-jiggled as a couple of teams had problems for the Sunday. The new itinerary was designed to be kinder to the players and Umpires. It seemed to work, as there was more chance to spectate, helped by bigger breaks and better weather. The ‘Competition’ part of the Festival was never meant to be purely mathematical. Consideration was given to the results, but as great was the attitude of teams & their organisation over the two days. The teams were split into two sections based around the Senior & Junior sections in the season ahead. For the record, the teams were, The teams awarded trophies were Seniors Kibworth and Market Harborough and Juniors Stoke Golding, Aardvarks and Rangers.
Mark Jones |