Over the course of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the Women’s Masters Indoor State Championships was held at Veolia Arena, a tournament which kicked off what will be a busy few months of hockey in Goulburn.
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The event featured over 30 teams competing across four grades, which tournament director Ange Brown said was due to the typically social nature of the masters tournaments.
“Women’s masters is always extremely strong, because it’s about the social [aspect] and friends,” Brown said.
With a strong turnout and good crowd support, Brown said that she was very pleased with how the tournament turned out.
“It’s gone extremely well, we haven’t had any hiccups or and major concerns or judiciaries or anything like that,” she said.
“The ladies are having a great time, there’s some really good hockey out there.”
Goulburn fielded three teams in the competition, and they competed in the first, second, and fourth grades.
Such a strong turnout from the home teams spoke to the strength of the sport locally, and Goulburn Hockey Association publicity officer Andrew Woolner said that he believes the masters tournament was “a great thing for Goulburn”.
“At this level, it’s great to see the social interaction between the teams and towns.
“I think it’s been fantastic. It’s something that Goulburn’s been looking forward to for a long time.”
Last weekend’s tournament also acted as a warm-up for the National Masters tournament, which will also take place in Goulburn in December.
“From that nationals, they’ll be actually selecting to go to Hong Kong,” Brown said.
“There’s a masters indoor tournament in Hong Kong in February.”
Along with the masters fixtures – which will also see a men’s masters tournament in November – Veolia Arena will host the Open Women’s and Open Men’s State Championships across two weekends in November, which will be closely followed by the Under 18’s Boys and Under 18’s Girls Indoor State Championships in late November and early December.
This, Woolner said, is only a sample of what Goulburn has to offer in a sporting capacity.
“There’s a lot in Goulburn,” he said.
“People that say there’s nothing that happens in Goulburn, just get out and about a bit. Have a look at something different, come out and watch some of this, or go and watch a bit of stuff at Wakefield.
“We’ve got so much to offer in the town, and you’ve only got to look at the motels and see how full they are all the time.”
