Inventor of ‘extreme hockey dribbling’, 63, hopes to leave ‘a legacy’ after conquering records and mountains

The 63-year-old inventor of an “extreme” sport who has broken a world record and scaled mountains all while dribbling a hockey ball said he hopes to leave behind a lasting “legacy”.

Former England national hockey team captain Andy Halliday, who lives with his wife, Suzanne, and his two lurcher dogs in Orford, Suffolk, has spent much of his life juggling his hockey sporting passion with a 30-year career as a Metropolitan Police officer.

After stepping away from the force, however, an opportunity arose to tackle the 2012 London Marathon and – wanting to “do something a bit different” along the 26.2-mile route – Andy created extreme hockey dribbling on a whim.

The activity, which he describes as dribbling a hockey ball in any location and on any terrain apart from a hockey pitch, has enabled Andy to raise more than £72,000 for various charities via a series of extreme challenges – steering balls up the Three Peaks and all the way from Cardiff to London.

His “craziest” feat involved dribbling a ball through a Himalayan mountain range in 2019, where he also broke the world record for the highest game of street hockey.

This year, he is taking his hockey ball on the London Marathon for the fourth and last time with the aim of setting a Guinness World Record while fundraising for Alzheimer’s Research UK in honour of his late mother.

“Extreme hockey dribbling didn’t exist before this,” Andy told PA Real Life.

“Everybody is used to seeing people dribble a hockey ball on a hockey pitch, extreme is just dribbling from A to B, wherever you might be.

“I’m going into my final challenge this year and I would like to leave a bit of a legacy behind.

“It would be lovely if somebody would take on the mantle of extreme hockey dribbling.”

In his youth, Andy played top-level hockey alongside his career within the Metropolitan Police.

In 1985, he was selected for the England and Great Britain international squad for the sport before he later went on to captain the England indoor team in the European Championships in 1990.

“I was very committed in my police career, juggling that with trying to play top-level hockey,” Andy said.

“In those days, there were no full-time hockey players, it was very much an amateur sport.”

Andy said his policing career quickly “took over” after he became part of a specialist firearms unit for the force but following a step back from policing in 2010, he started getting back into the sport.

In 2012 Andy and a friend were invited through England Hockey to take part in the London Marathon to raise money for the WellChild charity, an organisation supporting seriously ill children.

“I thought we should do something a bit different and dribble the hockey ball instead… that’s how extreme hockey dribbling started,” he said.

Describing the sport, Andy said manoeuvring a hockey ball on anything that is not flat “creates a unique challenge” and he also has a rule that he will never pick up the ball with his hand.

“To anybody trying it, the most important thing is not expecting to pitch up on the day and expect to do it,” he said.

“The training, the time on your feet and the practice with stick and ball is the most important.”

Andy said he became “hooked” with the quirky sport and he soon came up with the “crazy idea” to dribble a hockey ball up and down the Three Peaks of Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike, and Snowdon in 2014 for charity – completing the feat in just under 18 hours.

“I did some crazy things coming down the mountains, coming down backwards and I lost several balls on Ben Nevis,” he said.

“It raised quite a bit of money and I thought, ‘I’ve unveiled something here, I better keep it going’.”

In 2017, Andy spent nine days hockey dribbling from Cardiff to London to fundraise for Help for Heroes and two years later, he broke the Guinness World Record for the highest game of street hockey while trekking to the Thorong La pass in the Annapurna mountain range of the Himalayas, which stands at 5,416 metres (17,769 ft).

“That’s probably one of the craziest things I’ve ever done, dribbling all the way up to 18,000 ft,” he said.

Andy said he decided to keep his challenges “more serene” from this point, dribbling around the London Marathon in both 2022 and 2024 for charity – and he will tackle his final marathon this year to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research UK.

He is also hoping to set a Guinness World Record for the fastest time dribbling a field hockey ball.

“I don’t know anybody who has done it, I don’t think anyone is crazy enough to do it,” he said.

“This will be the last marathon and I’ll hopefully go out with my name in the Guinness Book of Records.”

With his marathons, Andy has been motivated to fundraise for Alzheimer’s Research UK through JustGiving after his mother, Mary Halliday, died in June 2024 at the age of 87 after being diagnosed with dementia.

“It’s such a shame seeing somebody who had so much effervescence and verve in the character of their life and then gradually, it just ebbed,” Andy said.

His friend and fellow field hockey player, Imran Sherwani, has also publicly shared his Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

“When somebody who is the same age as you is impacted by it, it really makes me think how desperate this illness is,” Andy said.

“I used to play in the same team as him in the England team.”

Pascale Harvie, president of JustGiving, said: “Andy’s idea to dribble a hockey ball at this year’s London Marathon is a truly unique and inspiring way to raise money in memory of his mum and to support his friend with dementia… we’ll all be cheering him on.”

To find out more, visit Andy’s JustGiving page here: justgiving.com/page/andy-halliday-1734033182142