A giant leap has been taken to revitalise the Northern hockey scene.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Following Hockey Tasmania's annual report released earlier this year, the future of the sport in the North appeared to have reached a breaking point.
About 40 of the North and North-West's passionate hockey supporters and players attended a community forum at St Leonards, with the stadium's facilities, participation, junior development and competition structure all on the agenda.
With Hockey Tasmania chief executive Damian Smith in attendance, conversations and ideas from the forum are set to be put forward to the Northern competition committee before being compiled into a report to be sent to the state's governing body.
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
Smith had nothing but positive words to say about the event with discussions providing a key insight into the Northern region.
"I was really pleased with all the positive feedback we got from the community here, it's a really good step forward," he said.
"We just want to keep that positiveness coming through and need to look at ways we can move forward.
"Our sport is not unique - there are other sports around the state that have the same issues we do. What was really pleasing was that we identified some of those and we are looking at solutions to fix them which is really pleasing to see."
Run by Northern competition committee members Nic Duffy, Lynette Stebbings and Brett Withington, Duffy and Stebbings both agreed the right steps were being taken.
"I'm really pleased with how positive it was, because it could have easily turned," Stebbings said.
"It's given the hockey community an opportunity and those who are really passionate about hockey to have a voice - to have their opinion and put forward their ideas and to also bring in new ideas from other sports."
With aspects of golf, cricket and athletics all covered from within the forum, other sports proved worthy points of discussion to help determine hockey's future.
"Another positive thing was when any issues were brought up, the question was how are we going to overcome that and what are the things we can do to resolve the issue that is there," Duffy added.
Anyone who was unable to make the forum is encouraged to fill out this survey
Subscriptions are available here.
Sign up to our Sport email here.
Know a junior sport star? Make a nomination for our 2019 Junior Sports Awards here.