The Roar
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Can we make field hockey a mainstream sport?

The Gent new author
Roar Rookie
15th June, 2016
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The Gent new author
Roar Rookie
15th June, 2016
16

Well here is my first article on The Roar. Hopefully I can find some people who agree with me!

Does anyone else out there care about hockey? No, not NHL or ice hockey, which I thoroughly enjoyed while in Canada.

I am referring to field hockey. One regularly has to google as ‘field hockey’ so as not to get confused with the sport played by our cold weather friends.

I believe that variants of hockey have been around for thousands of years, so surely those playing the newer format of the game should be made to include the prefix ‘ice’.

Now I am not here to bag out ice hockey, more to encourage a greater awareness of our national teams. The Kookaburras (currently the world number one men’s team) and the Hockeyroos (World number three women’s team) are world class teams that have both been Olympic and World Champions in the last 20 years.

Hockey is a game played at high speed and with a good degree of skill and bravery. It’s a game that champions equal rights for women, with the Hockeyroos earning the same as the Kookaburras, but both teams are currently suffering from a severe lack of profile both in the print media and on television.

The current tournament being played in London is the Champions Trophy. Six of the top teams in the world playing in a round robin before progressing to a finals series. The Kookaburras have already qualified for the final with one game to play and the Hockeyroos start their campaign on early Sunday morning AEST.

As a sports fan with not prepared to be held ransom by Foxtel for $25 per month of drivel just to access sports, I have resorted to the web to catch the action. Normally Hockey Australia does a pretty good job of live streaming matches on Epicentre so that free-to-air hockey is available, but due to Foxtel contracting, there is no live streaming and not even highlights available in Australia on the FIH (International Hockey Federation) website.

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They made the first two games available then withdrew the content for the remaining games.

Thanks to AAP who posted the first hockey post on The Roar in ages and prompted me to encourage people to get behind our teams.

Surely something can be done to raise the profile of hockey. Can Hockey Australia and the TV companies make some agreements to get hockey on free-to-air TV? There are so many channels full of repeats – surely there’s space for some hockey in the middle of the night from London, or soon to be early in the morning from Rio?

Come on Roarers – show your support for hockey! I am no journalist, but I will try to post to share what is happening in London with the Kookaburras and the Hockeyroos.

Let me know your thoughts. I know there can be some harsh criticism on here, but what I am suggesting shouldn’t cut anyone out of the sporting picture – it will just be more inclusive for two of our top sporting teams.

If you care about hockey – speak up. If you haven’t watched it – catch some highlights of the skill on display and add another sport to your menu!

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