Author: Nic Kerber
The Hockeyroos and Kookaburras will play feature international matches in Sydney and Perth next year after the cities were announced to host Australia’s home double headers in the FIH Pro League 2020.
Tickets to all home matches are on sale now throughTicketek.
Sydney will play host to a blockbuster Australia Day weekend of fixtures against fellow world hockey powerhouse Belgium on 25/26 January.
This will be followed by back-to-back double headers at the Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre against Great Britain, who are the current Olympic women’s hockey goal medalists.
Attention then turns to Perth where the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos will take on Argentina on 6/7 March before playing their final matches of the global competition against cross Tasman rivals New Zealand on 16/17 May.
Sydney and Perth both hosted home matches in the inaugural season of the Pro League.
“These home matches in Sydney and Perth provide a great opportunity for not only the hockey community but the Australian sporting public to see our elite national teams in action,” said Hockey Australia CEO Matt Favier.
“There are fantastic ticket offerings, particularly for families, and there is nothing like watching world class hockey live, so we encourage everyone to come out and support the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras in what will be their only international matches on home soil before they head to Tokyo.”
All FIH Pro League matches to be staged in Sydney in 2020 aresupported by the NSW Government via its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW.
That there will again be matches in Perth is also of significant benefit with the Hockey Australia High Performance setup and both national teams being based in the Western Australian capital.
“There is a passionate hockey and sporting community in Perth so we look forward to having big crowds on all of the match days against Argentina and New Zealand,” said Favier.
“Being an Olympic year the Pro League will also be vital preparation for both of our national teams ahead of Tokyo 2020.”
The introduction of the FIH Pro League at the start of 2019 was described as the biggest shake-up to the international hockey calendar in more than a decade.
The second edition of the FIH Pro League sees the world number one Kookaburras enter the competition as the reigning champions, while the Hockeyroos will be attempting to go one better after finishing runners-up in 2019.
The FIH Pro League is an international men’s and women’s competition held annually featuring a host of the world’s best hockey nations.
The FIH Pro League 2020 will see nine women’s and nine men’s teams play in home and away fixtures with the top teams in the women’s and men’s competitions declared the champions. Unlike in 2019, there will be no finals in the 2020 competition due to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Tickets for all of Australia’s home fixtures in the FIH Pro League 2020 are available now through Ticketek.
Click here for a full list of the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras FIH Pro League 2020 fixtures.
FIH Pro League 2020 matches – Sydney Olympic Park Hockey Centre
Saturday 25 January
Hockeyroos v Belgium (4:00pm local)
Kookaburras v Belgium (6:30pm local)
Sunday 26 January
Hockeyroos v Belgium (3:00pm local)
Kookaburras v Belgium (5:30pm local)
Saturday 1 February
Kookaburras v Great Britain (4:00pm local)
Hockeyroos v Great Britain (6:30pm local)
Sunday 2 February
Kookaburras v Great Britain (3:00pm local)
Hockeyroos v Great Britain (5:30pm local)
FIH 2020 Pro League matches – Perth Hockey Stadium at Curtin University
Friday 6 March
Hockeyroos v Argentina (6:00pm local)
Kookaburras v Argentina (8:30pm local)
Saturday 7 March
Hockeyroos v Argentina (4:00pm local)
Kookaburras v Argentina (6:30pm local)
Saturday 16 May
Kookaburras v New Zealand (4:00pm local)
Hockeyroos v New Zealand (6:30pm local)
Sunday 17 May
Kookaburras v New Zealand (3:00pm local)
Hockeyroos v New Zealand (5:30pm local)
*Start times are subject to change