Some of the western region's best female hockey players banded together to create a new competition for the Master's category at the start of the year, and after an extended break due to COVID-19, they are finally ready for round two in Parkes this weekend.
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Parkes' Denise Gernsbach said the competition, between the six teams of Master's ranked women, was a welcome opportunity for the sport's more experienced players to keep competing all through the year at a higher level, and that was the major factor influencing the creation of the tournament.
"It was something we all wanted to do, a good number of us who've played in the Western Premier League Hockey got together and decided it would be a good idea for us.
Us masters women were looking for a competitive competition against women their own age within the region. Tracey Hardie-Jones (Dubbo), Tracey Baker (Lithgow) and myself had been discussing this as a possibility for quite a while and at a Masters tournament at the end of 2019 put the plans in place for the competition to commence in 2020," says Gernsbach.
The Masters League was put on hold during COVID and unfortunately Bathurst and Orange are unable to participate for the remainder of this season due to their local competitions needing double up rounds (which include Sundays, the day this league plays) to complete their competition this year.
Despite this, the four remaining teams have been very excited to finally dust off the sticks for round two this coming Sunday, with Sunday Parkes taking on Dubbo at 10.45am and Lithgow playing Mudgee at 12.00pm. Both matches will be played on the Mariah Williams turf, in what will be a great display of hockey
"We received fabulous feedback from all participating teams in Round 1 with everyone thrilled with the standard of hockey played," says Gernsbach.
Parkes' opponent Dubbo lost to Mudgee 4-2 in the opening round, and with the Parkes women back training hard the moment COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, Dubbo will need to be on their A game to defeat the side that will certainly be challenging for the title.
When asked about what the Parkes side's main aim for the season ahead, Gernsbach was bullish about not only improving the standard in the entire region, but reminding everyone just how strong our town is at hockey.
"The aim for our team in this competition is to continue to strengthen and promote Masters hockey in Parkes and continue to give Masters women strong, competitive hockey against women their own age.
Parkes won 3 consecutive Division 1 Masters state titles in the Over 35s division so we have been a force to be reckoned with in Masters hockey in recent years. We want to continue our reputation as one of the top teams in NSW," says Gernsbach.
In other hockey news, Parkes has a side in the women's Central West Premier League Hockey for the first time in a long time, and they got off to the perfect start last weekend when they defeated the Confederates 2-1.
They head to Bathurst to take on St Pat's at the Bathurst Hockey Complex on Saturday at 2.15pm, and it will an entertaining encounter after St Pat's put five goals past the Ex-Services in round one.
WOMEN'S PREMIER LEAGUE HOCKEY- ROUND ONE
St Pat's 5 (Esther Hotham 3, Millie Fulton, Kristy Ekert goals) defeated Ex-Services 0
Lithgow Panthers 4 (Clare Bosman, Mackenzie Stewart, Amanda Saladine, Rylee Millar goals) defeated Orange CYMS 0
Bathurst City 3 (Emily Thompson, Tamika Potter, Kelsey Willott goals) defeated Souths 2 (Sarah Watterson, Sophie McCauley goals)
Parkes 2 (Savannah Draper, Peta Fagan goals) defeated Confederates 1 (Eva Reith-Snare goal)
