Holding Their Own? Assessing the Merger of Men’s and Women’s Field Hockey in England

Abstract

In 1996, the All England Women’s Hockey Association (AEWHA) and the men’s Hockey Association (HA) merged, ending a policy of separatism lasting over a century. In contrast with governance mergers in other sports, the AEWHA were able to exert a substantial amount of influence over the form and timing of the merger due to the financial clout of women’s hockey. However, the inclusion of quotas within the new English Hockey Association (EHA) did not prevent the governance of field hockey in England from becoming male-dominated post-merger. The lack of cultural integration between the old HA and the new EHA proved to be a barrier, with the old separatist practices of the HA ensuring many women felt uncomfortable and voiceless in the period after the merger. The forced move to merged governance therefore reduced the autonomy and representation of women within English hockey. The merger changed hockey’s governance structures, but it did not change the competing organizational cultures sufficiently for women to flourish within the EHA, and did not result in greater gender equality or equity.