DLHC

Dawlish Ladies Hockey Club was originally formed in 1947 but was called “Dawlish and Teignmouth Ladies Hockey Club”. It consisted mainly of Teignmouth players who could not find their own pitch in Teignmouth and therefore came to Dawlish.

In 1954 the club disbanded but was re-formed in 1956 as “Dawlish Ladies Hockey Club”. However, in February 1960 the club nearly disbanded again when its Honorary Secretary at that time suddenly resigned without warning. As there was no-one willing to take over, the club looked certain to finish. Fortunately the umpire at that time (Lt Col W H Burke) agreed to take on the extra responsibility of Honorary Secretary and in the 1961 – 1962 season the first set of rules for the club was initiated and the first Dawlish Tournament was held which has been running on an annual basis ever since. After the death of Lt Col W H Burke in 1969 a memoriam shield is presented to the winners of every tournament in his honour.

In June 2016 Dawlish Ladies were shocked and heartbroken at the news that their very well-loved player, Anne Darby, had suddenly passed away.  Anne was an incredible, positive member of the team and is sorely missed.  In April 2016 the Burke tournament memoriam shield added its final game, complete with no more space.  We then thought it fitting to have a new shield, this time in honour of our dear 'Darbs'.

In 2024, we find ourselves at the start of yet another season - as a club we are still going strong and our ever growing club members now range over a good few decades in age! Our youngest members are only in early teens, whilst our more senior members have lots of experience to share and pass on... The ethos of our club is that everyone is welcome! We recently held our AGM where our community, inclusivity, encouragment and fun spirit was very much recognised and importantly celebrated. We are looking forward to this season, getting back in to Wednesday night training, the friendlies, the league and seeing what the next few months have in store...