Germany v Scotland Leverkusen 2007

World Championships 2007 Leverkusen - Germany and Scotland Over 60s

Membership

Full membership of the Scottish Thistles Masters Hockey Club for 2021 is open to all players aged 35 or over by 31 December 2021. Current subscriptions are £20 for a player or player and partner. If you are not a member of a Scottish hockey club, there is an additional fee of £20* payable to Scottish Hockey on your behalf.

* reduced from £40 by Scottish Hockey for 2020-21; anyone who has already paid £40 will be given a £20 credit in his member account

With the approval of Scottish Hockey, from 17 February 2021, membership is has been opened to younger players from Over 35 upwards, and the club, renamed, will also explicitly include women.

Scotland International Masters Hockey teams will be managed by the newly formed (November 2020) Scottish Masters Hockey, and will no longer be the responsibility of Scottish Thistles Masters Hockey Club.

WMH rules currently allow certain sides, in exceptional circumstances, to apply to name up to two players (three for Over 70 teams) who are not more than two years below the minimum age (60, 65 or 70 on 31 December of the year of the event) in their squads. Full age qualification applies when you will reach the appropriate age at any time during the calendar year of the tournament. It now seems likely that the only Scottish teams which would be allowed underage players in World Masters Hockey tournaments would be in the Over 70 age group.

For minor fixtures, the rules about underage players are usually more relaxed and any full or junior member can play in these matches at home or abroad.

Non playing members are welcome too and many players take their wives (who can join as associate members at no extra cost) on tour. There are opportunities for players of all levels, from those like George Black, David Cassell and Fred Lawson who have many full international caps to those who have taken up the game later in life.

Apply to join

or if you want to find out more about Masters hockey in Scotland, contact us by email at:

Scotland LX at Googlemail dot com

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Selection

There is currently no selection for friendly Scottish Thistles fixtures other than first-come, first-served so all you have to do is apply quickly! You will also be guaranteed a fair share of pitch time, whatever your standard of play. If you are old enough, you are good enough. The Scottish Thistles Sub Committee has introduced a two tier system with selection for major tournaments while retaining the policy of no selection for other tournaments and matches.

Selection for all Scotland Over 60, Over 65 and Over 70 international teams has up to now been managed by the club but responsibility for selection has now (November 2020) passed to Scottish Masters Hockey, a body for all age groups and both sexes reporting directly to Scottish Hockey.

There are separate coaches for each international side and they will work to this document setting out selection criteria (PDF).

The eligibility rules belowhave been approved by Scottish Hockey and will apply from late 2020 to selection for all Scotland Masters Hockey teams from 35+ upwards, men and women. In brief, the changes affecting existing Scotland LX members are:: affiliation with Scottish Hockey will not necessarily be through the Club; a British passport is no longer required; and residence in Scotland must be for a minimum of five years instead of three.

To be eligible to play Masters Hockey for Scotland, you must meet criteria 1,2 and one from section 3 below.

  1. Be an affiliated member of Scottish Hockey.
  2. Meet the FIH or WMH regulations for the competition.
  3. Meet one of the requirements of a), b), c) or d) below:
    1. Been born in Scotland.
    2. Have one parent or grandparent who was born in Scotland.
    3. Are married to or in a civil partnership with a Scot as defined in (a) or (b).
    4. Have a 5 year continuous residency period in Scotland

In addition to the above criteria, to be eligible a player must also –
• have not played for another international team in a Masters’ competition during the last one year.

Any player can make themselves ‘available for selection’ for a younger age group. If they do so but are unsuccessful in gaining selection for that squad and the final squad for their actual age group has not been selected, they may subsequently put themselves forward for selection for their actual age group. However, if the final squad for their actual age group has already been selected, they will not be considered for selection for that group.