Club limbo as Games take home
SOME short-term pain will be worth it in the end when Gold Coast hockey benefits from brand new facilities after the Commonwealth Games.
The Coast’s premier side, the Labrador Tigerstix, will have an interrupted preparation for a new Brisbane Hockey League season because of works going on at their Keith Hunt Park headquarters in Musgrave Hill.
But according to new coach Darren Fowler, it is merely a temporary inconvenience.
Labrador have been kicked off the brand new fields at Keith Hunt Park until after the Games, when temporary stands will be pulled down.
A new season of Brisbane Hockey League starts on March 17 but until then the club is searching for alternatives just to train and facing three months of playing away.
“We’re trying some options to get on artificial turf,” Fowler said. “We’re still using Runaway Bay but we may also need to get tennis courts or indoor cricket centres.
“But a positive is that when it’s all finished we’ll get quite a few home games at the end of the season.”
Labrador were beaten 3-2 by Easts in last year’s BHL grand final but Fowler has to come up with replacements for two stars who have left.
Former Kookaburra Jason Wilson has retired and current Australian squad members Dylan Wotherspoon and Corey Weyer have relocated to the AIS in Perth.
Wilson played 155 games and scored 119 goals for Labrador, Easts and Bulimba (2002-2009, 2014-17) and was second behind Joe Reardon as Labrador’s scoring ranks last year with 22 goals.
Another player, Luke Tyne, is overseas but could be back late in the season.