HOCKEY: International Call-up for Billy Whizz
HUGH SULLIVAN
South Saxons veteran goalkeeper Richard Harvey, aged 56, will be playing for the Wales over-55s indoor hockey team at Nottingham this weekend in a tournament billed as the 2026 World Masters Hockey Indoor World Cup. There will be 13 teams competing, mostly from Europe, including two from Wales. His team, Wales Dragons, were due to start qualifying matches from yesterday (Thursday) in a group comprising the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and England.
Harvey has a Welsh mother and has been proud to represent the principality in previous senior tournaments at both over-45s and over-50s levels. But this tournament is special to him, being contested at Nottingham University where he studied physics nearly 40 years ago.
Known universally in local hockey circles as ‘Billy Whizz’ after the rapid-running cartoon character, Harvey played for Hastings team South Saxons between 1993 and 2010 as an outfield player, only taking up goalkeeping at the age of 40 when he moved to Sevenoaks. But he rapidly gained a reputation at the National Premier League club, playing regularly for the 2nd XI and being picked to make his international debut in the over-45s Masters World Cup played in Rotterdam 12 years ago.
The indoor game is faster and more furious than its outdoor equivalent. Harvey has suffered a series of contact injuries and knee twists and has undergone three back operations. He has also incurred two heart attacks and prostate cancer. He returned to the Hastings area six years ago and credits “amazing” local physio Cat Gibbons with getting him fit to play again.
His training for the forthcoming World Cup tournament has been intensive – “It’s by far the hardest thing I’ve ever done in hockey,” he says – “it hurts so much!” But he remains dedicated to the sport. “I found my wife playing in veterans hockey – she won five championship titles before retiring – and it’s a big part of my life.”
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