A form of our beloved game where men and women play on the same team; mixed hockey has been played for as long, if not longer, than the men's and women's separate games. There is evidence from a cartoon that appeared in Punch magazine in 1846 of a form of mixed hockey being played in Somerset by the Agapenome (Greek for 'Abode of Love'), a notorious religious sect founded near Taunton. They were renown for this activity and even played on Sundays. Today mixed hockey is played throughout the country and in many other countries around the world but it is at its strongest in the Midlands.

If you are interested in leading on this topic, please contact The Hockey Museum Curator, Mike Smith, using the contact form.

The Hockey Museum (THM) has collaborated on a project to research the origins of mixed hockey in England. The author, Shinobu Akimoto, is a specialist in hockey history with a particular interest in mixed hockey in the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. In 2012, Akimoto was a visiting researcher at the International Centre for Sports History and Culture, De Montfort University, Leicester but did much of his research at THM. He has now returned to Japan and is based at Kobe University as an Associate Professor. To see a PowerPoint presentation of his findings click on the icon below.