The new hockey season may be about to begin but the summer months saw a number of St Albans players represent their country in the Masters and Grand Masters World Cup competitions in Barcelona.

In total 12 Tangerines featured in the tournament for players over 60 in four different age groups.

Graham George and Adrian Stephenson played for England and Nigel Strofton and Chris Parker the B team in the Over 75 category, both finishing second behind Australia.

Peter Havlin and Martin Kavanagh represented Wales in the over 70 competition while the over 60s saw Ian Knox turn out for England B and John Michalik represent Scotland B.

The club’s European ties were also evident with Jean-Paul Vincent selected for Belgium and Tony Mastroddi for Italy in the Over 60 squads.

And it was not just the men as St Albans were also represented by Mary Oswin, who played for the international invitation team Alliance in the women’s over 60 section, and Charlotte Barrett there with Scotland in the same age group.

Two weeks later the Masters World Cup was also held in Barcelona with international teams in the age groups from over 35 up to over 55.

The Oaklands College-based club were again well represented but this time largely by the ladies section.

Anne-Marie Davenport, Sarah Embrey and Liz Cleverly pulled on the England shirt in the over 40, over 45 and over 50 categories respectively while Emma Turner captained Wales over 50.

Although the men had no one selected for the England sides, St Albans stalwart Stephane Port managed the gold medal-winning England over 40 team.

A St Albans spokesman said: “Hopefully all this success within the club will encourage the 300 plus junior hockey players who play at Oaklands every Sunday through the season.

“It shows that they too can set their sights on playing international hockey well into the second half of the 21st century.”