UEA Hockey legend Norman Hart wins prestigious award for lifelong service to the sport
By: Communications
UEA Hockey Club legend Norman Hart has won the prestigious AD Munrow Award at the 2025 British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) annual awards, which took place in July.
The award celebrates the remarkable individuals who have made a significant contribution to supporting, growing and developing university sport over a sustained period of time.
Norman certainly satisfied that brief and anyone that has played hockey at UEA since the early 1970s will be familiar with Norman, who started as a club coach before becoming Honorary President.
He has supported the club in numerous ways, primarily helping develop umpires – with some of those he has mentored having gone on to umpire at international level. He was also a key part of 2024’s Hart and Covell Alumni Gala, which brought together generations of hockey-playing UEA alumni.
The nomination for Norman’s award cited his involvement with UEA going back to 1971, a massive 54 years.
Norman started with UEA as a coach, initially for one season before progressing to Club Captain (President), a role he held from 1972-1987, until the SU rules changed – meaning only students could hold positions on the committee.
While Norman last coached with the club in 1974, he was then given the role of Honorary President in 1987, which he holds to this day.
Across his long and devoted career in hockey, Norman’s passion for developing both players coaches and umpires has seen him develop countless devotees of the game, and he still travels 22 miles to each training session to coach his teams.
Norman said: “It’s a major honour to receive the award in the name of AD Munrow, the pioneering academic who fought to make the study of physical activity a serious academic area.
"It’s been a privilege to be involved in hockey at UEA for so many years and it has provided me with some of the most intense and enduring friendships of my life.”
Mark Heazle, Head of Sport and Physical Activity at UEA, said:
"No one has done more to progress the growth of hockey at UEA or possibly across the country than Norman over a sustained period of time. He truly is a legend of the sport he loves and fully deserves the accolades for helping recruit people to it, and doing the hard work, week in and week out, to get people playing and enjoying hockey.
"Many congratulations Norman, I salute your huge contribution to the game.”
If you are interested in playing hockey at the UEA Sportspark, visit the website.
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