The EIH Recreational Section’s annual festival of hockey took place over the opening weekend of August at Ice Sheffield.
Known as Recfest, this tournament is open to every recreational team in England. Such is the attraction of Recfest that it was over-subscribed within five hours of being announced with all 15 teams signed up with six in reserve.
The tournament has has to cater for all skill levels so the format is a little different. Teams are divided into three separate groups with a complete spread of abilities on the Saturday where five teams compete across three groups. Games are a short-game 15-minute one-period format.
Teams are competing to qualify for one of the Championship, Plate and Cup competitions played on the Sunday.
After some intense battles on the Saturday with most games only resolved by a single-goal margin, there was at least one big shock with reigning champions MK Hurricanes failing to qualify for the top group. Competition was fierce with teams having to rely on goals scored to progress to the Championship group.
Sunday’s format means that even teams who have had a tough Saturday can compete for silverware on the Sunday. This year, Nottingham Outlaws failed to record a point on Saturday yet came back on Sunday to sneak the Cup trophy at the death with a one-goal win over favourites for that section Cleveland Comets.
MK Hurricanes failed to make the Championship section but bounced back on Sunday, dropping only one point from their four games to lift the Plate.
Front-runners for the Championship looked to be Birmingham Rockets and Whitley Wildcats with both unbeaten on their Saturday forays. The Championship was effectively decided when these two met on Sunday morning with Wildcats sneaking the points with a slender 2-1 win. However, the Tynesiders could not take their foot off the gas and needed to win their final game of the day to ensure that they topped the group.
After a hectic weekend which saw 60 short-time games played, the eventual honours went to Whitely Wildcats in the Championship, Milton Keynes Hurricanes in the Plate and Nottingham Outlaws in the Cup.
Personal awards
Forward of Tournament: Samuel Krenpasky (Birmingham Rockets)
Defence of Tournament: Kamil Durzak (Whitley Wildcats)
Goalkeeper of Tournament: Georgia Ashton (Kingston Cobras)
Recfest traditionally awards a Spirit of the Game award which sums up what this tournament is all about. While Solihull Jesters failed to rack up a point or a goal all weekend, they fully embraced the event, wearing Hawaiian shirts with the logo on the back stating “we may be rubbish* but we are not boring”. That sense of humour truly reflects their ethos of recreational hockey.
Thanks must go to the English Rec Committee, particularly John Freeman, Tony Wood and Linda Matthews, and not to mention no small number of friends and family members who volunteered at the event. The hundreds of games of Rec Hockey which take place up and down the country all year long would not be possible without everything they do.
*Words may have been edited for the purposes of this report!