The Early Years
Ewshot Hockey Club was started in 1976 by predominantly villagers and members of Ewshot Cricket Club including Val Harder (Clive’s Dad) and Bob Dugay who were looking for some outdoor sporting activities for the winter period. Many other hockey clubs have originated in such a fashion with close association to local cricket clubs.
There is no record of the fixtures played in 1976 but the Club focused on friendlies and a number of members travelled to Jersey for a tournament as this is mentioned in the minutes of the first AGM held in 1977. At this meeting the annual subscription was set at £3 for adults and £1 for students.
At that early stage there was sufficient interest to form a Men's team, a Ladies’ team and a Mixed team and there were also plans to offer coaching to youth players despite the fact that there were only a few – a far-sighted approach and certainly unusual for a club of its size at the time. In June 1977 agreement was reached for the Juniors to use Ewshot Village Green for some training.
Matches were played at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks in Sandy Lane, Church Crookham. Not surprisingly it was a grass pitch which was very bumpy, not the smooth surface offered by (most) Astroturf. Fortunately, a local farmer and club member volunteered to roll the pitch. In the following years as well as further rolling, members undertook marking and mowing and the key task of constructing the backboards for the goals! The lawnmower was stored in a nearby building.
The QE Barracks was the home of the Gurkha Regiment and Ewshot members recall watching the Gurkhas play hockey in full kit and gas masks! Unfortunately, usage of the Queen Elizabeth Barracks venue came to an end in 1987 following a decision to turn the hockey pitch into a football pitch. The site of course is now lost under the Crookham Park development.
By 1981 the club had sufficient female players to form a second Ladies’ team with overall membership now up to about forty committed players.
League Hockey
Matches continued to be friendlies until 1982 when the decision was made to enter both Men's and Ladies’ teams into the Hampshire leagues. In the 1982/83 season the Men's team finished fifth in their league which was a considerable achievement at their first attempt, while the Ladies’ 1st team also had a great season winning 14 out of 19 games. The Ladies’ 2nd team managed to win five matches in their initial season. There were also Men's and Ladies’ Indoor sides playing during this season with mid-week indoor hockey still prevalent during the 1980’s.
The season before the Club entered the Hampshire leagues there was a stand-out performance by the Ladies in one match beating Alton 14-0 with leading goalscorer Elaine Wightman (Alderton) netting a double hat-trick!