Edinburgh will host the 15th Air New Zealand Golden Oldies World Hockey Festival in 2011, the first time that the event has been staged in Scotland.
The Festival was announced in Scotland's capital today, secured for Edinburgh through a partnership of Event Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council.
The eighty-three year old president of Scotland's LX hockey team, George Black, announced the destination for the 2011 Festival today in Edinburgh along with current Scottish representative, Graham Moodie.
The 2011 Golden Oldies World Hockey Festival will be only the third time that the event has been staged in Great Britain since its inception in 1983, following Bournemouth, England in 1989 and Dublin, Ireland in 1997.
Organisers expect up to 1000 participants from up to 10 countries to travel to Edinburgh.
The 14th Festival will be held in Adelaide, South Australia next month from 20-27 September with organisers Air New Zealand confident of the success
for the 2011 Festival.
"We are delighted to stage the 2011 Festival in Edinburgh, which is both a stronghold for the sport and also an outstanding city for Golden Oldies hockey players to enjoy the legendary Fun, Friendship and Fraternity," said Keith Robinson, Air New Zealand Events Manager.
Paul Bush OBE, Chief Operating Officer at EventScotland, said: "In 2008 Edinburgh hosted the Golden Oldies World Rugby Festival which was a phenomenal success for the city, attracting rugby fans from around the world. Hosting the World Hockey Festival in 2011 will, without doubt, build upon this success, generating an estimated economic impact of over �1 million for the city of Edinburgh from the participants, spectators, family and friends who will come to enjoy the sport and spend time here in Scotland as tourists. The Festival will also raise awareness of Hockey as a sport which has wide appeal across all age groups and encourage participation from teams based in the UK as well as overseas putting Scotland firmly on the map as a destination for social sporting events as well as competitive ones.
"The city of Edinburgh provides an enviable backdrop for any event and the Golden Oldies World Hockey Festival will take place just before the height of the city's festival season to entice attendees to take some time to explore the city, soak up the atmosphere and perhaps travel further in Scotland during their time here."
Lee Cousins, President of Scottish Hockey Union, the organisation responsible for delivering the event, will take on the role of Festival Director.
"Scottish Hockey is delighted to be involved in this world class Festival which promotes two very important sides of the sport: the focus on friendship and fraternity and the fact that it is a sport which is accessible to all ages and abilities."
The Festival will be staged at Peffermill, close to the city CBD, which Cousins says is a world class venue which will provide some great play and fantastic facilities.
"Securing events like this one for the city of Edinburgh is hugely important in raising the profile of the sport as an inclusive and fun way to keep fit and enjoy the more sociable aspects of competitive sports," said Scottish Olympic representative Graham Moodie.
George Black, 83, said he was delighted that like-minded Golden Oldies will be thronging to Edinburgh in 2011.
"I've been playing hockey for 63 years now and, as president of Scotland's LX Club for players aged 65 and over, I can vouch for the fact that you don't have to be in your twenties to enjoy a game or two. Events like the Golden Oldies Hockey Festival provide a means for people from around the world with a passion for hockey and indeed travel to come together and enjoy a week of sport and socialising and Scotland's LX team will be looking forward to participating in both."
The Golden Oldies World Hockey Festival began in Auckland in 1983 and has been staged on a biennial basis since with Festivals staged in Canada, Australia, England, Fiji, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands and Argentina.
Original NE14HOCKEY Article
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