Wales' hockey team crowdfunding for World Cup

Image source, World Sport PicsImage caption, Gareth Furlong scored from two penalty corners against Poland as Wales secured their World Cup spot Wales' men's hockey team are crowdfunding to help cover their costs for the World Cup in the Netherlands and Belgium. They beat Poland 2-1 in Santiago, Chile, in March to seal their place at August's tournament. The win secured back-to-back World Cup qualifications after Wales made their competition debut in India in 2023, where they finished tied 11th. They have set a £40,000 target to cover costs such as travel, accommodation and competition expenses. As part of a largely amateur programme, many of the squad have full-time jobs or study, and players are responsible for funding their own international travel. Hockey Wales hope the World Cup appearance will help "inspire the next generation of hockey players". Image source, World Sport PicsImage caption, Jack Pritchard (right) scored the opening goal against Scotland in Wales' qualifying group Jack Pritchard was one of the goalscorers in Wales' 5-0 win over Scotland in their World Cup qualifying pool. He said the challenges of a part-time programme are felt by the players. "It's a difficult balance to get right between training and the day job," added Pritchard. "We've got a range of ages, some are students, some of them are working full-time, some are working part-time. "A lot of the guys come down from London, places like Nottingham and Birmingham, that sort of stuff." Pritchard admitted it was "an ask on people" to combine work with hockey. "Being a part-time programme, we have to fund ourselves year in year out," he said. "The cost is going up so we have to do something about it." Wales and GB's Shipperley ends international career Published1 JuneEngland and Wales drawn together at Hockey World Cup Published17 MarchWales seeking upsets at Hockey World Cup Published18 MarchThe 32-year-old said Wales do their best to match the standards of other nations in their preparations. "For six months of the year during the summer, we try to live like the professional athletes that we need to be to play at this level," he added. "Our funding has gone down in recent years and ironically our performance [level] has gone up. "I know the organisation are doing all they can to help support us, for this summer especially. It's a massive ask to go to a tournament like the World Cup, the costs are huge, and we're all aware of that as players. "It means a huge amount to represent the nation, particularly on the world stage at a World Cup." Image source, BBC SportImage caption, Paul Whapham left rugby side Ospreys to become Hockey Wales chief executive in 2023 Hockey Wales chief executive officer Paul Whapham said the overall costs to prepare for the World Cup are £150,000. "We've had to try to find that in four months," he added. "That's a difficult task whatever sport you're in and extremely difficult when you're largely amateur and with the resources we have in hockey. "Financially we're not paid to go to the World Cup, everything we do is self-financed." Despite the financial pressures, Whapham hoped the next generation will be inspired by the efforts of the team on the world stage. "People in clubs can look at people and say, 'If they can do it, why can't I?'," he said. "At the grassroots level we're still seeing more young players come through to play the game. Hopefully we get more of them playing from September. "It's a great achievement of the men, to repeat the feat [of qualification] and to go back this time is really tremendous. "It gives us a shop window to inspire some younger people to take up the sport and it's a huge testament to their work-life balance." Wales have played warm-up games against England and Australia and will travel to Spain for further games to prepare for the World Cup. They will also take on Chile in Cardiff, before facing the Chileans in three Test matches in the Welsh capital, and then heading to the Netherlands for their World Cup pool matches, with opponents including England, Pakistan and India.

Wales' hockey team crowdfunding for World Cup

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Wales' hockey team crowdfunding for World Cup

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