‘Is Hockey Moving with the Times?’ Amateurism, the All England Women’s Hockey Association and Field Hockey at the Olympic Games, 1972–1996

The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) decision in 1973 to include women's field hockey in their event forced the All England Women's Hockey Association (AEWHA) into a difficult position. The Olympic movement under Lord Killanin, and then his successor Samaranch, eventually dropped the amateur ethos in favour of a more open and commercial world tournament. The decision to form a Great Britain (GB) governing council and a team in 1977 had fundamental consequences for England. No longer fielding the premier national team or as influential internationally, the AEWHA could not dictate their own priorities as had been the case in previous decades. Chief among them was the undermining of their amateur ethos forced AEWHA to choose between participation in the Olympics or not. The AEWHA leaders pragmatic approach created an increasingly professionalized player base, but selection to the team remained a privileged, unpaid and voluntary position. Despite AEWHA's compromised stance towards the Olympics, England and Great Britain teams remained a competitive force winning the European championships in 1991 and Olympic bronze in 1992. Paradoxically by maintaining amateurism in women's field hockey it caused the eventual irrelevancy of the ideals by the time open status was announced in 1998.