In August of every year for the past seventeen years, the International Hockey Festival is held in Barbados. Hockey teams come from England, Europe, USA and the Caribbean to partake in the sport they love and soak up all that beautiful Barbados has to offer. Indeed one of the spirits they soak up plenty of is Cockspur rum, and the Cockspur Old Gold Roosters are there to help them along the path.
From the opening ceremony, you can't help but notice that the Roosters are a rare breed. Founder Ricky Clarke goes all out to secure the best turned out team, and rarely if ever do they disappoint. They are also the biggest squad, with teams in every section. The teams have a real international flair with players from around the globe, many of whom would have played in the festival in the past for another team, and felt it necessary to come back and enjoy it the "Rooster" way. The Roosters are the spirit of the festival and are always among the last to leave the after match parties. How they manage to do this and perform as well as they have on the field over the years, having had winning teams in the past, is an amazement to many of the other players. But every "Rooster" knows the secret, quite simple really - it's the Cockspur Old Gold that keeps them going.
