The media coverage of hockey was extensive at the 2024 Olympics – and now one England goalkeeper wants to see more attention given at a club level.
Miriam Pritchard plays for Hampstead & Westminster Hockey Club, who are chasing their first-ever Women’s Premier League title.
However coverage of the highest level of club hockey in England is scarce, despite the increased interest in the national team, especially at the Olympics.
Pritchard said: “Club hockey has not reached where I think it should.
“There’s not that TV coverage that there is for other club sports.
“There’s a highlights reel on YouTube but from a TV and funding point of view, it’s not there.”
Most clubs feature a blend of capped and club players who juggle training and matches with full-time jobs.
Even England captain Hollie Pearne-Webb works part-time whilst representing Wimbledon.
Pritchard said: “With them all having jobs they want their Saturdays to be enjoyable and a success.”
Pritchard has returned to Hampstead for her third season, having been part of the Team GB squad which reached the quarter-finals at the Paris Olympics.
It was the first time the team had failed to win a medal since 2008.
Pritchard said: “To be part of it and to step out onto the pitch is a feeling I’ll never forget and something I want again.
“It was something I have always dreamed of and it just made me hungry to do it again and be more successful.”
Hampstead & Westminster’s women’s team secured promotion to the Premier Division in 2019, and have gone from strength to strength, finishing second twice in the last three years.
This period of success has allowed the club to bring in Team GB players like Pritchard, as well as Lily Owsley and Sarah Robertson, who both also went to Paris.
It was Robertson who recommended the club to Pritchard.
Pritchard said: “Immediately I fell in love with the place we play.
“Paddington Recreational Ground is in the middle of the park so you have got heaps going on and it is cool to play for a club that is in the middle of London.
“Not many other clubs are like that.”
Hampstead & Westminster’s success last season meant they qualified for the Euro Hockey League next year.
This brings an extra amount of exposure for the club and much-needed television coverage.
However, this does not extend to club hockey, much to Pritchard’s frustration.
Pritchard said: “Hopefully they find a way to grow the game.
“I couldn’t tell you how but that’s their job I suppose, but it’s something that hockey needs.”
Hampstead and Westminster look to go one better this season and have three points from their first two matches.
However, they are taking on established names such as Surbiton and East Grinsted, who have won the last ten editions between them.
Pritchard said: “I think we can [win], with the players we’ve got and the team culture we’ve created.
“At clubs, there is that disparity which needs to be improved.
“The majority of the time, the clubs that go to Europe are the ones which have slightly more money.”
Hampstead and Westminster on the other hand, are relying on fundraisers to cover their European campaign.
The club do not get subsidies from England Hockey and is looking to do a fundraiser event as the women’s team celebrates its 40-year anniversary this November.
Image Credit: Graeme Wilcockson
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