Guiness World Record Attempt Awaiting Confirmation

A Bristol-based hockey club is awaiting confirmation of its new Guinness World Record ™ for the longest hockey match in history.

Dozens of local volunteers got involved in the hope of earning a place in history and to help save the lives of premature and critically ill babies.

South Gloucestershire Hockey Club s (SGHC) goal was to set a new Guinness World Record ™ for the longest ever hockey match, beating the previous record of 30hrs 15mins. The challenge was launched in order to raise funds for the Cots for Tots Appeal, a £1m drive to provide vital equipment for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the city s St Michael s Hospital.

The marathon match took place on May 28th and 29th at Bradley Stoke Community School, and the club raised an impressive £1,900 even before the match began.

Organiser Darren Bane, an SGHC player and the father of a boy who was born more than three months early and spent the first six months at St Michael s Hospital, said the event a great success. In addition to hockey players, the club received help from the local community in the form of independent witnesses to log key times and events, as part of an evidence package needed for Guinness in support of the world record claim.

Bradley Stoke s Town Mayor, Cllr Ben Walker, blew the whistle to start the match at 9am on Saturday May 28th. The picture above shows a champagne celebration (spot the cork!) taken some 31 hours later.

The players had to overcome some nasty weather – strong winds and driving, misty, rain, not to mention extreme fatigue. By the time they finished, it looked more like an outing for the Ministry of Silly Walks than a hockey match, due to the leaden limbs of most of the players. But they persevered, and were bolstered by a good gathering of spectators to cheer them on at the end. Huge thanks to the school, Tesco, the witnesses, stewards and timekeepers, without whom it would not have been possible.

Darren told Bradley Stoke Matters “The sponsorship money is still coming in; at present we ve just gone past the £4,400 barrier, and I KNOW of at least another £250 to come, so I am starting to seriously think that we may end up raising around £5,000, which will be awesome. Many of us are still aching and hurting, but it has been universally agreed that the “no pain, no gain ” motto applies; it was all worth it! ”

“The other thing that is happening now (apart from continuing recovery) is that we are putting together our evidence package for Guinness, which some coverage on your website will very much form part. ”

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