Winifred Templeton or Mrs T, as she was affectionately known, died suddenly in January 1977, having umpired two matches that day, when she held the office of president of the Irish Ladies Hockey Union. She was a member of the Victorians Hockey Club and served as Irish President of the ILHU on three occasions 1944-45, 1965-66 and 1976-77.
Like many of her contemporaries, Winifred travelled the length and breadth of Ireland in the administration and promotion of the game she loved. This despite never having driven a motor car herself. Relying on her many friends within the game of hockey for transport, she crossed the Border regularly from her home in Belfast during the height of the most troubled times in our country’s history. Of stern will, she refused to contemplate not journeying either to meetings or wherever hockey was being played, even in those dark days.
The Interprovincial Schoolgirls competition played for the Templeton Cup and in Ulster the Winifred Templeton Trophy is presented for outstanding dedication to the sport annually.
