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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s and also plays for Hockey Geelong.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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,\u201d Ms Sayer said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the kids to reach their potential, they need to have facilities locally to learn the skills.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery other club in the Surf Coast Shire with a membership like ours of more than 200 has a home base.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey provide wonderful support for the clubs and community groups that are smaller within the Surf Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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) \u201cfrom being able to demonstrate a level of need required to attract Sport and Recreation Victoria Major Facilities funding\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 […]<\/p>\n