Luke’s legacy to live on as national hockey guidance is published in his memory

The Hobson family's Christmas decorated fir tree, which Luke would normally switch on for the community to enjoy. Picture: Courtesy of Hobson Family (Image: Archant)

New guidance has been put forward by England Hockey, in which player safety has been strongly emphasised following Luke Hobson’s death. He sadly passed away after being hit in the head with a hockey stick in an unsupervised training session in March 2019.

Planning Safe Hockey is an advisory checklist to be used by anyone planning or delivering hockey activities and was created “in memory of Luke Hobson”, according to England Hockey.

An October inquest into the passing of 14-year-old Hitchin Blueharts player Luke, who was described as “loving and caring”, ruled his death an accident.

READ MORE: Death of ‘loving and caring’ Hitchin Blueharts player Luke Hobson ruled accidental by coronerThe new advice encourages stick and ball training “to prepare players for the session, but this must only start when appropriate supervision is in place and must be conducted in a safe environment.”

Luke Hobson, aged 14, sadly died in March last year after being hit on the head with a hockey stick at Blueharts Hockey Club in Hitchin. Picture: Hobson family (Image: Archant)

Luke’s parents, Helen and Peter, said of the new rules: “We welcome the ‘planning safe hockey’ guidance published last week by England Hockey and which has been developed in memory of our son Luke, having sustained a fatal head impact at the start of a hockey training session.

“The ‘planning safe hockey’ guidance covers crucial issues including the importance of no unsupervised stick on ball play and for floodlights to be switched on when needed well in advance of any play taking place.

“We are grateful to England Hockey for their constructive approach and in particular to chief executive Nick Pink who has driven this guidance forward and taken on board our concerns around safety in hockey, and also to Nicholas Moss of Temple Garden Chambers who worked tirelessly with us to ensure lessons from Luke’s death could be learnt.

“We urge all hockey clubs and schools where hockey is played to carefully study the guidance and fully implement all the measures recommended.”

Luke would have celebrated his 16th birthday on December 7. As is family tradition, the Hobsons switched on the stunning lights on the giant 60ft fir tree outside of their countryside home last week.

And Helen is going one step further, with a 16 part winter swim challenge in memory of her son Luke and in aid of St Mungo’s charity.

To learn more, or to donate to Helen’s challenge, visit justgiving.com and search ‘Make a Splash’ or click here.