Townsville determined to build on success at state titles
TOWNSVILLE Hockey has punched well above its weight at the under-18 state indoor hockey championships, but regional coaching director Nathan Doherty was adamant it set a new standard to exceed next year.
Townsville’s men and women’s sides narrowly missed out on promotion to the top division after both finished second in Division 2 at the state titles.
Leading female player Brooke Davis was named in the Queensland state side while Tahnee Marshall and Levi Bartlett were named as shadows.
Doherty said it was a big achievement for a region which was unable to run an indoor program this year due to lack of facilities.
“We have partnered with the Wellington Street PCYC but they can only offer us so much time. It wasn’t enough time for a local competition but we were able to train our rep teams which has been crucial.
“We ended up doing six weeks of coaching with the players which was really good. Hope Philip and Mel Bullen put a lot of time and effort into the kids which is evident in the results.
“While we finished quite high in each division, we are moving forward and we still have work to do. It will be hard to progress much further if we aren’t able to find a suitable venue to get these kids playing regularly though.
“We are hopeful with more achievements like the ones we have had at the weekend, schools and other indoor facilities will see it as a potentially strong partnership.
“I think Townsville Hockey has gotten to a point where we look to the next year to be bigger and better. We are building to bigger and better things and we have the buy in from the kids.”
Townsville Hockey also held its annual general meeting where president Annette Maidment stepped down from her post after five years at the helm. She has been replaced by former director hockey participation Josh West.
Two other board members, Murray James (director of competitions) and Jeremy Steel (director of championship and events), also stepped down from the board after multi-year stints.