England and Great Britain Hockey has once again backed our Watch Your 1s competition and campaign as we launch for a second season with a top prize of £500.
The #watchyour1s campaign is geared towards all UK clubs, from Premier Division down to regional teams, from Bowdon Hightown down to Bodmin, while this year we have opened up to Ireland.
Our campaign also calls for clubs to offer enticing match day excitement alongside the top sides’ action.
“I support this campaign – it’s brilliant and it’s exactly the kind of thing we want people engaging, watching the sport,” said Nick Pink, England and GB Hockey’s chief executive.
England Hockey says it is in “massive competition, more than we’ve ever been” against other sports – which is why we are campaigning to boost engagement around clubs across the UK and Ireland.
England Hockey’s message to clubs is: Who can come to watch? What else is around the facility that will encourage families to watch?
Star names have also backed The Hockey Paper‘s campaign since launch, including Barry Middleton, the former GB captain and caps record holder.
He said: “Getting people going to watch and be involved is a good idea to me. It’s how we bridge the divide between watching the international and the domestic game that’s one of the challenges for the clubs.
“We are behind the European clubs in having the facilities to make people want to be there and making it an event, rather than just the die hard being there. The more we can embrace that the better.”
Clubs have already got on board with our #watchyour1s hashtag on social media this season, which is great news ahead of our official launch this week.
