Players of all levels are welcome to join Scottish Thistles Masters Hockey Club (Thistles) from those who have many full National caps through those who are still members of a Saturday playing club to those resting having become fed up chasing youngsters in matches. Nationality is not a barrier: if you want to play for Scottish Thistles you can. Membership of other Spirit of Masters clubs (e.g. England LX) is not a restriction, nor is being part of an international team or organisation such as Scottish Masters Hockey. Umpires and non-playing members are most welcome and many players make a break of the event dates taking their wives and partners on tour.
Membership is open to all players, male and female, aged 35 or over during the calendar year. A Full membership which allows you to play for Thistles costs £20. We also have an Associate membership for umpires, friends and colleagues for which there is no charge.
To join Thistles we require: a) Information on who you are. b) Payment of the membership fee.
Note: Membership of Thistles is not the same as registering with or joining Scottish Masters Hockey. See below and FAQs for more details of this distinction.
a) Information on who you are
We require to keep our database as up to date and to do this we have a website form for you to complete. Each year we also ask all members to complete this form anew so that we have your latest details. To go to the page on our website with this form click this link: Membership Registration Form
b) Payment of the membership fee
Transfer the membership fee (currently £20) to our account AND send an email detailing who you are and why you are making this payment to: treasurer@scottishthistleshockey.org
Account name SMLXHC Account 1
Account number 10000980
Sort code 83 - 00 - 50
For the reference please use your surname and, for example, "Join".
Membership Years
The membership and Scottish Hockey "years" do not match up:
- Qualification for an age group is governed by World Masters Hockey (WMH) and based on turning the qualifying age (e.g. 64 becoming 65 is a 65) during the calendar year of the competition.
- Thistles membership for historic reasons was from 1st March but to match with WMH from 2025 this is being changed to 1st January. Most of our events occur from March until October.
- Scottish Hockey registration is from 1st September each year to align with their normal league season.
Team Selection
In November 2020 responsibility for all Scotland Masters National teams passed to Scottish Masters Hockey reporting directly to Scottish Hockey. We as Thistles are responsible for attending all "Spirit of Masters" events, festivals and social hockey matches we have always attended against other "Spirit of Masters" national based team.
Selected Events. For certain major tournaments to be more competitive the Thistles' Committee has introduced a selection system with a captain, coach or manager making team decisions.
Open Events. For all other events the policy is one of fairness with all members able to apply. However with our growth in numbers and increased spread of ages fairness will require some age streaming and some choosing based on the fixture. The Committee aim is to allocate event places to give everyone the chance of playing as much Thistles hockey as possible. As part of the squad you will be guaranteed a fair share of pitch time.
There is a large amount of further information about kit, attending an event and such in the Members Area
Frequently Asked Questions
Click here for a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs)