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Remnants Hockey Club Established in 1991 Remnants is the longest running and only gay women’s hockey club in the UK. Based at Eltham College, Mottingham, S.E. London the team belong to the Kent Hockey League and are recognised by England Hockey and their existence is recorded in the History of Hockey Museum based in Woking, Surrey. The club fields two teams who play in the third and fifth division of the Kent Hockey League. Players range in age from those in their 60s who have been with the club since it was founded to those in their early 20s. Some players have been featured in Diva Magazine and the TES, Times Educational Supplement such is the speciality of the club. Despite the success of the British hockey team at the London Olympics 2012, they won a bronze medal, ground roots hockey in the UK has fallen in popularity. Remnants have taken part in the London Pride marches for several years in an attempt to prompt sports amongst the LGBT community. The History of Remnants Hockey Club. The club was first founded in 1991 and gained its name from the fact members had left other north Kent and S.E. London clubs with a desire to play hockey in a more accepting environment, it was not originally formed as a gay hockey club and not all founding members were gay. It took 3 seasons to join the league, form a governance committee and establish a constitution marking the club as a gay ladies hockey team. Nationally hockey was in the headlines as the Men’s team had gained the gold medal at the 1988 Olympics and both the men and women were 4th in the world. The following year the women’s team would take the Bronze at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. In the Kent league Maidstone Hockey Club and Sevenoaks Hockey we’re top of their game with 9 divisions in operation. Hockey was played mainly on grass with only the 1st division being played on Astro turf. In terms of the UK gay scene Brookside had not yet screen the first pre-watershed lesbian kiss on UK TV, this was aired 1984. In education ‘Section 28’ was still in force banning the use of public funds to buy materials promoting homosexuality civil partnerships was 13 years away and the 2010 Equality Act was 19 years away. However the London lesbian social scene had moved on from underground house parties as gay clubs sprung up in South London as well as Soho. The development of an openly accepting gay hockey was new and unique. Remnants formed an outlet for LGBT women to not just to play hockey together but to also socialise together. Communication was in a pre-social media age however the club grew in membership, they advertised in the Kenric lesbian newsletter and eventually the club was able to field two teams. All teams started in the lowest division in the Kent league but eventually the team continued to be promoted. Remnants achieved success in March 1994 when they won the Blackheath Tournament. The team took part in several international and national tours in Belgium and nationally Penzance, Southampton and the Isle of Wight. They won the Oranje Brussels Hockey Tournament when combine with Surrey’s Maori Vamps team. The team were one of the first in the league to receive sponsorship in the form of ‘Keep Able’ a national company serving the disabled community. In 2008 the club’s first team were promoted to the first division in Kent and player ‘Strings’ became the highest end of season scorer with 23 goals in 2009. The club has benefited over the years from ex-national squad players joining but non as famous as two of the club’s longest servicing member’s who’s gay wedding featured on the Living TV programme Four Weddings in August 2009, they also featured the same month in Women magazine. The club today faces the same recruitment issues as any hockey club in England. The popularity of the sport is slowly fading as clubs are forced to merge or close. However the club remains an active gay organisation having celebrated its 21st anniversary and continues to field two hockey teams and have an active social scene.

References

References Diva Magazine January 2010 TES, January 2009 Hockey Nation Magazine Autumn 2012 Women Magazine 2009 Living TV, Four Weddings, broadcast August 2009 G3 Magazine online editorial June 2013 http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1988/HOK/mens-hockey.html http://www.fih.ch/en/fih/events/worldranking