England Hockey Chief Executive Sally Munday has been awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Sally has previously been awarded an MBE and has now been handed the even greater honour of OBE for her services to hockey.
Sally is a hugely respected figure in British sport and takes up a new role as Chief Executive of UK Sport later this year.
Under Sally’s stewardship there have been numerous significant milestones for hockey. At grassroots, since London 2012 the sport has seen a 65% increase in the number of young people playing, while Back To Hockey, Flyerz Hockey, HockeyFest and In2 Hockey have all been launched to further grow the game.
At elite level, the Great Britain women’s team won a first ever Olympic gold medal in 2016 following their bronze four years earlier, when the men’s team also had their finest Olympic performance for a quarter of a century.
In 2018 more than 110,000 people watched the Vitality Hockey Women’s World Cup at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, and in total Sally has overseen a period when more than one million fans have watched hockey live on these shores.
In just over two weeks’ time, the sport sees its biggest match since 2012 at the 15,000-seater Twickenham Stoop, with ground-breaking pitch technology in place at the home of Harlequins Rugby Club. This marks another milestone for our game as part of the new global FIH Pro League.
Sally said, “It feels particularly poignant to receive this honour ahead of my departure from hockey in the Autumn. It is such a privilege to be the CEO of a sport you love, I am a grass roots hockey girl in my heart and to have had the opportunity to lead the sport through this exceptional period of growth and success has been incredibly special. This is actually recognition for the whole sport – all our clubs, volunteers, staff and those involved in hockey who have contributed to the sport’s fantastic progress.”
Chairman of England Hockey Royston Hoggarth added, “England and Great Britain Hockey are delighted with this latest honour for Sally. It recognises all the hard work that has gone into creating great success for the sport during her ten years as Chief Executive.
“During this time, the international teams have seen unprecedented success. The launch of the new FIH Pro League was significantly driven by Sally and some of her peers, which now brings live international hockey from around the world to our television screens regularly for the first time.
“The number of people playing the game during this time has reached all time highs, from school children through to our Masters teams now playing well into their seventies. She has delivered outstanding success for the sport and we wish her every success in her new role as Chief Executive of UK Sport.”
England Hockey would also like to congratulate David Cawthorn after he was named in the Queen’s honours list. David has given fantastic service to our sport in a number of roles, in his native Leicestershire and further afield across the nation & Europe, and fully deserves the recognition of a British Empire Medal for services to hockey. His achievements and roles in the sport since the 1950s are numerous; he was heavily involved in the Hockey Association in his area, coach of the England and Wales indoor teams and at the age of 75 he was England Hockey volunteer of the year.
David – who is 80 today – said, “This award is a huge honour and I owe it to the many great people in hockey with whom I have been involved over the last 65 years. I want the hockey family to share this award with me because without the contacts and associations, advice and very many friends this would not have been possible.”
Courtesy of GB Hockey
