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London Royals Hockey Club

The London Royals are the UK’s only LGBT hockey club. They are affiliated to Pink Hockey, and are based at the John Orwell Sports Centre in Wapping, East London. They train regularly, play national 7s tournaments, mixed 7s tournaments, play in mixed leagues during the hockey season, and play in international LGBT tournaments every summer. There are currently 2 men's teams and 1 women's team for tours, and a mixed team playing regular league games in London.

The London Royals Hockey Club (formerly The London Guns & Roses) was conceived in 2005 at the Eurogames in Utrecht. 2 London based players played for the Australian men's & women's teams, as there was not a UK team at the time. On returning to London they decided to form a team of their own.

The club’s maiden tournament was the 2007 Eurogames in Antwerp. The women's team won silver & the men the bronze. They have since competed in the 2008 Eurogames in Barcelona and the 2009 Outgames in Copenhagen, were the women won gold & the men bronze.

The initial membership was small with only 12 men & women taking part in Antwerp. Players from other teams were used to make up the shortfall. The club has now grown to the point that they were able to take 2 men’s teams and 1 women’s team to the Gay Games VIII Cologne, and regularly have 30+ coming to training sessions plus countless more who attend more casually.

The Royals are completely open to all who want to play. There is a strong focus on player development, and the Royals are one of the few hockey clubs to develop adult beginners.

There are gay hockey clubs with at least 1 or more teams playing regularly in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the UK.


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