For Wales players, the build-up to a World Cup game isn’t typical to the other teams.
On the day of the game, “Some guys have had to be up at 6 a.m. because they’ve got work calls or work commitments that they need to be on,” according to midfielder Rhodri Furlong.
Back home in Cardiff, Rhodri works as a lead clinical vascular scientist, a patient-facing role, at an NHS hospital during the weekdays. On the weekends, he joins the national team to undergo training.
And it’s not just the players; coaches, team manager and physio all have dual jobs. “We are a part-time programme, and we train together in the summer. We all have jobs on the side; doctors, teachers and engineers who turn up and try to compete against the best nations in the world,” says forward Fred Newbold.
But four months ago, when it punched its ticket to the continental showpiece, there were fears over whether the team would have adequate funds to cover its participation, which included travel, accommodation and competition expenses.
Wales needed an initial sum of £40,000 to cover its expenses, which prompted the team to come up with a crowdfunding campaign, raising a little over £38,000 so far from 440 supporters. The players had to contribute £4000 each to their cause.
Unlike the elite international teams, which are supported by the nation’s governing bodies, Welsh hockey, according to Newbold, is a ‘full-time player-funded pathway’.
“We raised money from the crowdfunding; we got amazing support from our family, friends and fans of hockey to help us get here. It’s tough,” says Newbold.
Only the Welsh players, who make the cut to the Team Great Britain programme – Toby Reynolds-Cotterill, Jacob Draper, Daniel Kyriakides and Gareth Furlong – are afforded the opportunities of pursuing the sport full-time. For the next LA 2028 Olympics cycle, UK Sport has allocated £14.425 million to the overall hockey World Class Programme. For the rest of the group, it’s not so straightforward.
“In the week, we are expected to do our own work, playing for our clubs. Three of us play together at Team GB, some guys play full-time hockey, but it’s very much a part-time programme and do as much as we can in the little time we have,” says Newbold.
Despite not having favourable conditions when compared to the rest of the competition, this group is aiming to carve out a place for themselves.
It has managed successive World Cup berths and Euro Championships qualifications despite having fewer than 20 hockey pitches in the entire country. By comparison, there are more water pitches in the Amstelveen area, comprising three top-division hockey clubs.
Yet, funding for the sport remains a stumbling block. Rhodri, who plays alongside his brother Gareth in the national side, says this group continues to persist because “we love it and we’re a very close-knit group.”
He adds, “It is [funding] something that we just have to put up with. It hasn’t changed despite our success over the last 10 years. And it doesn’t look like it’s going to change.”
In 2023, it lost all three group games, won a classification round in a penalty shootout, before finishing a joint-11th. This time around, it’s been another difficult outing in the Netherlands so far; it already has a point after a thrilling 3-3 draw against Pakistan in the first round.
While improving on its position from 2023 seems an improbable task, it still remains in the hunt for a first World Cup win.
“We have never really won a World Cup game, so that’s the main objective,” says an optimistic Rhodri.
Published on Aug 22, 2026
