The Welsh Hockey Union (WHU) is the national governing body

Governing bodies of sports in Wales

The governing bodies of sports in Wales perform an organisational, regulatory or sanctioning function at a national level in Wales, some tracing their history to the 19th Century. Many cooperate with similar bodies from other countries to agree rule changes for their sport. Most implement decisions...

 for hockey

Field hockey

Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

 in Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. It was established in 1996 by the merger of the Welsh Hockey Association (founded 1896) and the Welsh Women's Hockey Association (founded 1897). The WHU is responsible for the administration of all aspects of the game including clubs, competitions, development, internationals, schools, umpiring and universities.

National competitions include men's and women's Welsh Cups. Internationally, Welsh players compete at the Olympic games

Field hockey at the Summer Olympics

Field hockey was introduced at the Summer Olympic Games as a men's competition at the 1908 Games in London, with six teams, including four from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland....

 as part of the Great Britain team. In all other competitions, including the Hockey World Cup

Hockey World Cup

The Hockey World Cup is an international field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation . The tournament was started in 1971...

 and the Commonwealth Games

Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....

, Wales compete in their own right. The Wales hockey team also compete at the EuroHockey Nations Trophy

EuroHockey Nations Trophy

The EuroHockey Nations Trophy is a competition for European field hockey national teams. There exist Trophies for outdoor as well as indoor hockey and for both men and women. In every cases it is a kind of B-European Championship. Underneath the Trophies there exist at least one division of the...

 (ENT), which was held in Wrexham

Wrexham

Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...

 in August 2009. Other countries that compete at the ENT are Belarus

Belarus

Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

, Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

, Ireland

Ireland national field hockey team

Ireland national field hockey team represents Ireland at men's international field hockey. It is organised by the Irish Hockey Association. Usually the team represents the entire island of Ireland and plays under a special flag. The exception is Olympic hockey, where the team represents only the...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 and Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

.

The Welsh Hockey Union is based in Sport Wales National Centre.