History of the NDHA
NARACOORTE & DISTRICT HOCKEY ASSOCIATION (NDHA) HISTORY
AND GENERAL INFORMATION
HISTORY
Hockey was first played in Naracoorte in the late 1950’s by women and later men who entered a team in the Tatiara Association competition in the early 1960’s. 8 women’s team played regularly until the 1981 season when the NDHA was born with 4 clubs. Each club had an A and B grade Women’s side, a Men’s side and an Under 13 mix junior side. 3 clubs were bases at Naracoorte (Dartmoor, Redlegs and Greenbottles) and the 4th at Lucindale. Within 3 years the Penola and Kingston Clubs joined NDHA and all Clubs boasted 6 teams – the above mentioned, a B Men’s side and Under 15 years mixed side. The early 1990’s saw junior hockey peak with 12 Minkey teams and an additional Under 13 B grade competition.
Since the mid 1990’s NDHA has seen a decline in memberships. The Association currently consists of 5 clubs, with Penola joining the Mt. Gambier Association and Kingston combining with Lucindale and this year see’s a new club formed called West Wimmera Brolgas which is from Edenhope and district. The NDHA now includes only a Senior Men and Women’s comp, U/16 years mix, U/13 years mix and U/9 years mix beginners programme.
Over the years there have been a number of local representatives who have played for SA on all levels. This isn’t bad considering there is no turf in Naracoorte and trying to compete against those in the city in a challenge in its self.
FACILITIES
During the 30 years of the NDHA there have been a lot of upgrades and improvements made and are now on their 14 President. 1983 finally saw toilets being built and 2 years later the clubrooms were up and running. In 1988 saw new light towers go up which helped in the safety of training and in the early 1990’s saw pop up sprinklers installed to help with the watering of the fields. As the hockey grounds could only hold 3 fields, the Association had to hold some games over at the high school. This year has seen a brand new playground installed and now also have just had new flooring go down in the clubrooms. These last 2 projects have all be self funded by doing lots of fun raising and everyone pitching in to make these things happen. It was only early in the year when the Association was successful in a grant to installed new light towers in the hope that one day still a turf will be placed down.
TODAY
Today, NDHA’s membership is around 200. To increase playing members NDHA recognises the need to promote hocky across the community. It is essential that juniors are made aware that hockey is a sporting option in Naracoorte and surrounding district. Through the junior Development Program and “Come and Try Day’s” the NDHA is promoting hockey by raising community awareness and providing community members with the opportunity to learn hockey skills and participate in the game of hockey.
Even though numbers have dropped over the years, the passion is still there. Another mile stone for this year was holding a junior medal count for the first time just before the seniors count. This was a huge success and is bound to continue in the years to come.
September 2011