My mother, Joan Wall, who has died aged 89, was an international hockey player and talented sprinter. She later went on to be a sports administrator.
She was born in Rotherhithe, south-east London, to Florence (nee Morrow), and her husband, Henry Barnett, an electrical engineer. An only child, Joan took up hockey at Bromley grammar school and also played for a local club, Atalanta, before being selected for Kent Schools, East Juniors and the Kent 1st XI, appearing in a seven-a-side exhibition match at the Festival of Britain in 1951.
