Wales Hockey: Men’s team raising funds to go to World Cup

Hockey Wales chief executive Paul Waffam said the overall cost of preparing for the World Cup was £150,000.

“We have to try to figure it out in four months,” he added.

“It’s a tough job no matter what sport you’re in and when you’re mostly amateurs and with the resources we have in hockey it’s extremely difficult.

“Financially we are not paid to go to the World Cup, everything we do is self-financed.”

Despite the financial pressure, Whpham hoped that the next generation would be inspired by the team’s efforts 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 are still seeing more young players coming into the game. Hopefully we will get more of them playing from September.

“It’s a big achievement for the men, to repeat the feat (qualification) and to go back this time is really remarkable.

“It gives us a shop window to inspire some young people to take up sport and is a huge testament to their work-life balance.”

Wales have played warm-up matches against England and Australia and will travel to Spain for more games in preparation for the World Cup.

They will also take on Chile in Cardiff, before facing Chile in three Test matches in the Welsh capital and then travel to the Netherlands for their World Cup pool matches against opponents including England, Pakistan and India.

Men’s Hockey World Cup Pool D Fixtures:

15 August 12:00 BST India vs Wales

15 August 18:00 BST England vs Pakistan

17 Aug 11:30 BST Pakistan vs Wales

17 August 14:00 BST India vs England

19 August 11:30 BST England v Wales

19 August 14:00 BST Pakistan vs India