ABOUT US
Since 1999, Beechworth & District Hockey Club has been finding and featuring some of the best players in the area. From coaching them on the ins-and-outs of the sport to honing their athletic skills, we’re proud to teach not only the love of the game, but to also impart the ideals of good sportsmanship, teamwork and loyalty.
Beechworth & District Hockey Club was formed in 1999 by co- founders Anne Jovaris (President), John Jewell (Head Coach, VP), Sue Rue (Secretary) and Jane Fowler (Treasurer). The Club was formed to provide residents of Beechworth, Yackandandah, Stanley, Chiltern, Wooragee and surrounds the opportunity to play field hockey with a club that had a focus on family and fun.
The colours of the Club are black shorts, skirts or skort and royal blue and turquoise shirts with turquoise & black striped socks.
In its first year of competition (1999) the Club entered three teams (Division 3 Women, U12 Boys and U12 Girls) in the Hockey Albury Wodonga (HAW) Association’s winter competition. Membership has grown from the original 3 teams to 16 teams and 198 players in 2007/08. We currently have 11 teams and 120 families involved with our Club.
In its 16 seasons of competition (1999 – 2014) the Club has had numerous successes and achievements with the highlights being:
Winning 16 Premierships and 12 Runners Up;
Winning 12 Best and Fairest Awards;
More than 40 players representing HAW;
13 players representing Victoria;
Becoming the largest sporting Club in Indigo Shire Council in 2006;
Still the largest sporting Club in Indigo Shire; and
Receiving the Club/ Organisation of the Year Award for Indigo Shire in 2000 (Border Mail Active Australia Awards).
The Club has a tradition of recording games played by each player. In 2005 Ewan Kelly was the first player to reach 200 games for the club and in 2012 Karen (Jonesy) Jones and Shirley Pilkington were the first people in the clubs history to reach 300 games. Shirley has now continued on to reach 350.
The Club’s players come from Beechworth, Yackandandah and the surrounding areas including Chiltern, Wooragee, Wangaratta, Wodonga and Tallangatta.
The Club draws players from a wide range of schools including Beechworth, Montessori, St Joseph’s, Stanley, Wooragee, Middle Indigo, Chiltern, Beechworth Secondary, Wodonga Catholic, Yackandandah, Osbornes Flat, Wangaratta High, Scots, Galen, Tallangatta Primary and Secondary schools. Over the years the Club, through Junior Hockey Development programs has established strong relationships with many local schools. This relationship has continued with Beechworth and Yackandandah schools.
Many of our Club’s players have played for their school and have had great success especially Beechworth Secondary School girls being crowned Victorian State Champions 3 times.
Beechworth is the focal point for the Club with Committee meetings, banking and postal facilities located in Beechworth. In 2010 the Club secured a meeting room and store room at the Baarmutha Park Pavilion along side cricket, football, netball and golf. Our home ground has been at Yackandandah Sports Park till 2017, we then moved to Mayday Hills Oval. Efforts are underway to secure funding for a synthetic field in Beechworth, though this will be a long process.
The Club is run by volunteers and there is a large time commitment to ensure each team has an enjoyable season including coaching, managing, providing hockey and goalie equipment and uniforms for the whole season. The Committee also focuses on player, coach and umpire development, family involvement, game enjoyment and raising enough money to fund the club.