On the Saturday evening the Annual Veterans Dinner was held at the Bull in Bisham, hosted by our tour organiser, Theodorus Brekelmans and was attended by players and partners from S.T.K. Berlin (Germany) and (ex) Maidenhead H.C. Veterans. Our special guest was for the evening was Lionel Connor, who stepped down 4 years ago, as the organiser after 42 years at the helm.

Jim Harris Memorial Trophy
The Jim Harris Memorial Trophy was presented by Maidenhead Hockey Club Colts in Memory of Jim’s commitment to Colts and Veteran’s Hockey and was first awarded in 1997 In 1996 Maidenhead H.C. played a friendly hockey match against the Dutch hockey Club Krimpen. During that match, the Maidenhead player Jim Harris was struck by a heart attack. A doctor from the Krimpen team and a first responder from Maidenhead immediately applied life-saving treatments, however without result. It was a time when there were no AEDs on sports fields.

This year, the trophy was awarded to Michael Haines. The considerations underlying this were his resilience and loyalty to Maidenhead Hockey Club. Michael played hockey for many years until he had problems with his leg, which eventually led to a prosthesis. Even with the prosthesis, he still played hockey from time to time, with the limitations it brought.
Michael resides in the Cotswolds. Nevertheless, that does not prevent him from attending dinners prior to the tournament as well as the tournament the following day.
Tournament

On Sunday the tournament was hosted again at Maidenhead & Bray Sports Club with 7 teams taking part, including the German team (S.T.K Berlin), together with teams from Amersham & Chalfont, Maidenhead, and Windsor, Stoke Green and South Berks joined us for the first time this year and we are sure will attend again.

The cup was first presented by Lionel Connor on Saturday 14 April 1979. The tournament was part of the club's celebrations for the 75th anniversary of Maidenhead Hockey Club’s founding. However , the cup itself dates from 1976 and was used at the occasion of three friendly matches (1976, 1977 and 1978). It was handed over to Lionel to use it as a Challenge Cup for the Maidenhead Veterans and remains so. This years winners were the The Rusty Nuts with the Wooden Spoon being awarded to Amersham & Chalfont.

We were so pleased to welcome back to the club house, Lionel Connor, Sue Cheale and John Smithers who played in the very first Vets Tournament in 1979.

Huge thanks to all the teams that attended, Maidenhead & Bray Sports Club for hosting us all and to the players and supporters for another fantastic festival of hockey. We look forward to seeing many of you next year on our 47th Anniversary.