Joyce was born in 1926 and started her hockey playing career whilst evacuated from Chiswick to Blackpool. On leaving school, Joyce joined the Civil Service in the Department of Health. When she relocated back to London, she transferred to the Department of National Insurance and joined the Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC) where she found a home in the Ministry of Labour hockey team. 

Joyce went to the Civil Service County trials and was eventually selected for the First XI. She also played for the Civil Service Representative Second XI which played the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and the Army annually. By then Joyce was playing for Elmwood Ladies’ Hockey Club, affiliated to Surrey rather than to the Civil Service. She proposed that players outside the Civil Service be represented at CSSC by an ‘unattached member’ – this was agreed, Joyce was appointed and her career in hockey administration began. 

She became County Secretary for the Civil Service and later President until 2001, followed by an honorary position on the committee which she held for many more years.  

Through holding the position of secretary of Elmwood Ladies’ Hockey Club in Surrey, Joyce moved on to serve on the South Council and the All England Women’s Hockey Association (AEWHA) Rules Committee – someone presumed that, as a civil servant, she would be good at drafting rules!  

Within her Department in the Civil Service, Joyce became a legend, organising many sports teams and events for her department and inter-departmentally within the London region. In 1980 Joyce was awarded the CSSC Merit Award, given to volunteers who “have shown highly meritorious service over a sustained period of time and made a significant impact in one or more areas.” She was honoured by being presented with this award by the Duchess of Gloucester at one of the Civil Service Special Events. Joyce also gave a trophy – The Joyce Cole Cup – which continues to be played for in an inter-departmental eleven-a-side tournament. 

Joyce continued to organise hockey and other sports for her department and the region and was further honoured by CSSC with the John Whittaker Fellowship award in 2016 for “having made a real difference to CSSC’s effectiveness through her persistent hard work, integrity and endeavour”. 

Joyce carried on playing for many years – well into the 1970s where she was an icon known to most of the players in Surrey as the ‘older lady who stood in the goal wearing a striped blazer and very white pads’, which she assiduously whitened before every match. 

There are many people whose lives were touched by Joyce over such an extensive career in hockey – she will long be remembered fondly by all of us, especially those in CSSC who were lucky enough to have met and played with Joyce. 

Joyce Cole, 1926-2026 

NB – Many thanks to the Hockey Museum for assisting with this Obituary.