Some of the best regional talents from across Australia have descended on the Goulburn Valley for the week-long Hockey Australia Country Championships.
The 2023 edition will feature a total of 12 men’s and women’s teams with more than 200 players to call the GV home for the next week.
Four years on from last hosting the major tournament Shepparton stepped in to replace the original host for the 2023 championships in April.
Redevelopment setbacks at the Goulburn Regional Hockey Centre in NSW opened the door for Shepparton to be handed the hosting duties.
Goulburn Valley Hockey Association president Cameron Druitt said he couldn’t wait for Australia’s top talents to battle it out.
“We only recently hosted the event in 2019, so to get it back so soon is a surprise, but a really pleasing one,” Druitt said.
“Hockey Australia came to us and Greater Shepparton City Council on the back of having a successfully run event in 2019. They (Hockey Australia) acknowledged that we can hold these type of events and the facilities are up to it.
“We hosted the junior state champs in 2021 and, although it was in the middle of the pandemic, it was a great event.”
Festivities kick off on Saturday with the first match at 9am followed by an opening ceremony at 12.30pm.
Druitt called on the public to get around the national event and cheer on Australia’s top men’s and women’s players.
“They are the best country players from around Australia. We are going to see some fantastic hockey being played,” he said.
“We encourage everyone to come down and watch, games start Saturday and run through to the following Saturday with Thursday being a rest day. It’s free entry, so come on down and cheer on the action.”
