Commonwealth Games Hockey In Geelong!

We were excited to hear the Victorian Government announcement on April 12 that most sports in the 2026 Commonwealth Games will be hosted in regional centres.  And even more thrilling, Geelong will be the host city for the hockey competitions.

This is a fantastic opportunity for us as individuals to watch and learn from top class international hockey teams.

But it’s also an amazing opportunity to promote our sport and to set in place strategies, plans and actions which will grow our sport and keep it thriving into the future.

The Prez says………Fantastic News!!!!

Peter Stuart, President of Geelong Hockey Association sends this message to all.

Sensational, Stupendous, extraordinary, fantastic, cool, awesome. All words that came to mind yesterday!!!

By now I would expect you would have all heard. The Commonwealth Games 2026 is being held in Victoria. in regional centres. And to put a cherry on top, Geelong will be hosting hockey!!!

This is the biggest opportunity I have known of for our sport, our clubs and our Association in this area in the time I have been involved in our great sport. Please get involved in your club, your community, your schools and workplaces to spread the word and use this as an opportunity to grow hockey.

I had a meeting with Andrew Skillern, CEO of Hockey Victoria last week. At that time it was Andrew’s view that we would hopefully get some of the hockey in Geelong. We were not expecting the final announcement yesterday.

But it is really good, I hope even great news.

It is important that we all realise this is just the beginning of a journey. Andrew and I walked around the facility at Stead Park and noted its strengths and weaknesses, particularly its current suitability to host major events. Yes I did say events. There will be much to be done and it will probably be disruptive so be prepared.

I expect that things are going to get busy in the next few weeks perhaps, and remain busy and really interesting, beyond that time. This may mean that the executive needs to spend time on this project. Please consider if you can step up to assist our sport, either at GHA or Club level. We need all of you on board. I expect we will be invited to design, planning and implementation meetings.

I have no idea yet what improvement may be made of a permanent nature. There will I expect be a mix of permanent and temporary works done. The Facilities pillar will be meeting, as soon as some clear air can be found, to look at what we might like to see. We will try to look big picture. You can always scale back. The outcome will be depend on
approvals, money, design and time.

LET’S USE THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY THAT MAY NEVER BE REPEATED. WE CAN SET HOCKEY UP FOR SUCCESS FOR A GENERATION IF THINGS WORK OUT AS I HOPE AND WE ALL PLAY OUR PART.

Regards,

Peter