Flat stick: Tornadoes keep pushing towards Torquay pitch

THE Torquay Tornadoes have taken part in a study looking at the growth of hockey across the Geelong region, and hope it will spur efforts to create a hockey pitch locally.

The Tornadoes are one of the fastest growing clubs in regional Australia but do not have a home synthetic field to train on or play games. The base for hockey in Geelong is Stead Park in North Geelong – a 40-minute drive from Torquay.

One player who travels long distances to be involved in the game is Georgina Sayer, who travels from Anglesea to play for the Division 1 Women’s and also plays for Hockey Geelong.

Her two children now play for the club and she coaches them both, which can lead to return trips to Geelong three or four times a week.

“I would really like my kids and their friends from the local community to have the opportunity to play the game I love locally. It is a real barrier to encourage new members not having a synthetic field in the Surf Coast Shire,” Ms Sayer said.

“For the kids to reach their potential, they need to have facilities locally to learn the skills.

“Every other club in the Surf Coast Shire with a membership like ours of more than 200 has a home base.”

Torquay Community Enterprise (TCE) has helped the Torquay Hockey Club participate in the G21 Hockey Strategy with sponsorship of $2,500, and Andrew Crowley from the Tornadoes said it was tremendous to have the support.

“They provide wonderful support for the clubs and community groups that are smaller within the Surf Coast.”

Gretchen Gibson from TCE said that through contributions made at the Torquay Bendigo Bank branch, the enterprise could continue to offer valuable support to grassroots groups.

A feasibility study by the shire in 2015 found the benchmark pitch provision ratio for providing a synthetic pitch for a club or clubs was at least 20 teams or 300 active players, and Torquay Hockey Club was at least five years away (ie. 2020) “from being able to demonstrate a level of need required to attract Sport and Recreation Victoria Major Facilities funding”.