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“In spring term, [my headmaster] came into the dressing room and threw down a load of hockey sticks. He said, ‘There you go boys, pick a stick up.’ Being left-handed as a cricketer, I picked it up left-handed. ‘Good,’ he said, ‘Goalkeeper.’”
Such was the sudden beginning of the hockey career of local sporting legend Tim Pollard.
Showing age is no barrier when it comes to sport, he was recently called up for the England Men’s Over-80s squad.
Tim’s passion and talent for hockey blossomed when his family moved from North to South England when he was a youth.
While his father was a rugby man, having played for Northumberland, “ironically”, Tim ended up attending “one of the best hockey schools in the country.”
Fast-forward more than half-a-century, and following a move to Jersey, he is still active in the game – today and on Sunday 10 April, he’ll be playing in a tournament.
Taking place at Wellingborough near Kettering, the tournament will see the Over-75 ‘Aspirants’ play against ‘The Ancients’. Tim will be playing for ‘The Ancients’.
His first game for England, which will be England Men’s Over-80s team’s first match since the pandemic began, will be held at Bisham Abbey against Holland on 27 and 28 April.
Ahead of his major hockey games, Tim opened up about his sporting story on the Bailiwick Podcast…
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