NEWCASTLE is the frontrunner to win hosting rights to two national masters hockey tournaments that could bring more than $12 million in economic benefits to the region.
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While an official announcement by Hockey Australia is not anticipated until late August, Newcastle is understood to be the preferred venue for the 2017 women’s and 2018 men’s national masters championships, due to its success in hosting the World Grand Masters event this year.
Newcastle hockey official and national men’s masters coordinator Peter Sweeney said the two events could bring more than 4000 players, officials and supporters to the city. The women’s event would be contested by 45 teams over 10 days and the men’s tournament by 85 teams over 15 days.
“We are looking at about 1500 people for the women’s event, and 2500 to 3000 for the men’s,” he said, adding that the regional economic flow-on from each event was estimated at $4.5 million and $8 million respectively.
The World Grand Masters event in May brought about 1500 players and officials from 30 countries and equal number of supporters to the city, generating an estimated $12 million.
“Off the back of that success, Hockey Australia knows that Newcastle has a great venue and is up to the task of hosting these sorts of events,” Mr Sweeney said.
“We had fantastic feedback from international competitors, with people saying we really raised the bar.”
Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes will bring a mayoral minute before Newcastle council on Tuesday night asking it to commit $50,000 over two years to the two events if the bids are successful.
“It aligns with our strategy to target major events, like the national hockey masters and the V8 Supercars, and I think it’s a good investment when you look at the money that will come in from the tournaments,” she said.
Cr Nelmes said Newcastle’s growing stature as an international-standard hockey event destination could also put it in the running to host World League matches from 2019, when a restructure of the elite international competition will bring teams to Australia to play the national open teams, the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos.
The hockey community is seeking up to $10 million from the Hunter Infrastructure and Investment Fund to build grandstands and redevelop player and administration facilities at the Newcastle centre.
Carol Sheridan, international events coordinator for the women’s masters council, said Hockey Australia supported bringing big events to regional centres and Newcastle, with its three high-quality synthetic fields, had “a real wow factor”.
