To all Thistles Members,
A year in and I still have not got used to when I enter the room them all standing and giving a nasal rendition of Hail to the Chief; I do hope there's no sarcasm involved.
Through no fault of mine we seem to have doubled in size with further younger groups for the men and ladies in the offing and, I am pleased to say, more older groups as well. WMH calls non-national-teams like us "Spirit of Masters". My priority is "Spirit of Thistles". Keep the suppleness in the members and organisers that my knees now lack. Free that childlike wonder of playing despite the daftness of pretending we're still aged (insert your own chosen number). Unleash the humour, the fun and the sense of the best version of ourselves we can possibly be. And come home afterwards with stories to be proud of.
Respect is a strange beast. With our numbers we cannot pretend to compete with the nations ten times our size. But Thistles punches above its weight whether via the inclusiveness, the "I know youse are here tae enjoy yerselves... but ye'd better play better in the second half..." rejoinders, or the can-do-will-do attitude, or even just the wig-wig-wig-wig waggle of our kilts. Whatever it is we get respect at club and at an international level that is priceless.
Eleven years with Thistles. For my sins in 2015 a rather underage over 60 was introduced to Thistles hockey and I could not believe how much fun it was. Since then, with the exception of 2020 (Covid), I've been involved with Thistles in festivals and international events every year. My enthusiasm has not faded though maybe memory has as I know I am still as fast and capable as I always was.
Still miss Mike.
Ian McCreath
President, Scottish Thistles Masters Hockey Club