Consultant Anaesthetist picked for England
08/04/2014
This article is more than ten years old.
A Consultant Anaesthetist at the John Radcliffe Hospital has been selected to play for England in the Over-40s Masters hockey team.
Dr Mark Crowley, who has worked at the OUH for seven years, will represent his country in the World Cup in the Netherlands in June 2014, and the Home Nations Championship in August.
Mark is 39 but eligible to play as he turns 40 this year. He previously represented England at under-21 level, and played league hockey at the top level for 10 years but had to put his hockey career on hold in favour of his medical career.
"Training didn't fit in with working very long hours," he said. "It is always something I have wanted to get back into. We have got some tough matches coming up against Australia, South Africa and Germany - some of the teams have Olympic Gold medallists playing for them, so the standard is very high."
"England currently hold the World, European and Home Nations championships, so it’s a great honour being in the side to defend those titles."
Selection for the team involved taking part in two gruelling six-hour trials before landing his place in the side.
Mark has been playing hockey for 30 years, and currently plays for the Oxford Hawks, where he also coaches the Under-6 team.
When he turns out in the national colours, his jersey will contain two extra badges - the Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics (the hospital department for which he works), and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre - NOC physiotherapists spent four months with him developing abdominal muscle strength and helping him regain fitness after a torn muscle injury.