CHRIS JACKSON IN FATHER'S FOOTSTEP

Winchester’s Chris Jackson, pictured, is following in his father’s footsteps.
Exactly 50 years after his father and Trojans legend Alan Jackson represented Great Britain for the first time, Chris is playing for England in the 40’s hockey World Cup, ironically also in Australia.
He was due to pull on an England jersey for the first time when the six-nation tournament began in Canberra, writes Mike Vimpany.
England faced Malaysia, New Zealand, Barbarians, Australia and the USA in a testing week-long Over-40s competition.
Chris Jackson described it as “a great honour” to be chosen by England, whose selectors were impressed by his outstanding form for Winchester in South League hockey in recent seasons.
Chris admitted he picked up ‘the hockey bug’ from his father at a very early age.
“I had a stick in my hand almost as soon as I was able to walk,” he laughed. “My first stick was shaped more like a boomerang.
“The family lived and breathed hockey and I couldn’t have had a better mentor as dad was one of the best players in the country and a main player in that formidable Trojans side of the Sixties and Seventies.”
Chris didn’t take long to establish himself and spent 11 seasons playing alongside David Faulkner & Co for Havant in the National League, amongst spells in France with Racing Club and for Fremantle in Western Australia.
More recently, he’s been a tower of strength for Winchester, who have climbed out of Hampshire Regional League hockey and back into the South Premier Division 2.
Chris’s achievements sit well with father Alan, who was among the outstanding players his era and represented Great Britain six times in International matches against Australia half-a-century ago, back in 1966.
“It was all grass pitches in those days and we played on the Australian Test cricket ground outfields, which were hard and bumpy,” he recalled.
Alan picked up his first hockey stick as a 13-year old schoolboy – and only last season, at an amazing 75 years of age, hung up his boots after giving a lifetime to the game.
He played the bulk of his best club hockey on grass surfaces across the country and went on to play in numerous tournaments abroad for the England Masters and LX Club.