Author: Ben Somerford

Hockey Australia (HA) today announces that Albany, Western Australia, will host the 2020 Australian Country Hockey Championships.

HA have partnered with the City of Albany and Lower Great Southern Hockey Association for the announcement to host the Championships in Albany.

The 2020 Australian Mens’ and Womens’ Country Hockey Championships will be played from Saturday 8 August to Saturday 15 August.

The Championships are the premier representative event for the top country players, enabling selection for Australian Country representative teams in the future.

HA CEO Matt Favier said: “We’re delighted to announce Albany as the host venue for the 2020 Australian Country Hockey Championships.

“The ratio of past and present Hockeyroos and Kookaburras athletes who hail from regional centres is amazing, showing that country Hockey is the lifeblood of our game.

“Albany, as part of the Great Southern region which has a fantastic Hockey tradition, is a fitting host for this event and we look forward to this event.”

City of Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington said: “Hockey in Albany attracts an incredible number of participants and some of our players like Kathryn Slattery have gone on to represent Australia.

“The City is excited to have the 2020 Australian Country Hockey Championships in Albany and the federal funding to upgrade the turf that was announced in February will provide a state of the art facility for hockey in our region that will continue to support player development and helping them reach the highest levels in the sport.”

Lower Great Southern Hockey Association president Sam Brown said: "This event will be a real shot in the arm for the Lower Great Southern Hockey Association and will expose our members to some very high quality hockey.

“We are very excited to be partnering with the City of Albany to showcase our facility including our new turf and our region as a whole.”

Hockey Australia Country Convenor Michael Nelson said: “The announcement of Albany Hockey Association as hosts on the Australian Country Hockey Championships is an exciting opportunity for the association to highlight our sport in their region.

“The Championships will provide locals with an opportunity to witness national Hockey on their local turf and provide administrators and aspiring players a first-hand experience of such a standard.”