Hockey: Olympic gold medallist Brent Livermore hopes to see a professional era

With hockey reaching new audiences across the country through the rise of online streaming, an Olympic gold medallist has hopes the sport could become professional.

One of hockey’s leading names says the Olympic sport could be on the cusp of a professional era, as NSW’s top players prepare to compete at the state championships this long weekend.

Olympic gold medallist and NSW Pride men’s team coach Brent Livermore said the reach of sport streaming could hopefully see hockey reach the professional heights seen across the world.

“The streaming of Hockey One on FoxSports and the state championships with News Corp has just been awesome. It has been great for the game,” he said.

Former Hockeyroo Brent Livermore.

“Hopefully, in combination with the hard work we did as a sport before Covid struck, we will start to move to a professional or a semi professional level.”

The former Kookaburras mainstay said there was an air of excitement across the hockey community for the FieldTurf Australia Open State Championships, returning after a coronavirus-enforced hiatus in 2020.

NSW Pride coach Brent Livermore. Picture: Jeremy Ng

Athletes will battle for selection in the men’s and women’s NSW Pride squads which will compete in the Hockey One home and away league later this year.

Livermore said it was a “massive opportunity” to cast an eye across the state’s best players and he would love to uncover an unknown prospect competing in the tournament.

The NSW Pride coach told The Daily Telegraph about a dozen up and coming players, including Ky Willott, Ehren Hazell, Daine Richards and Tommy Miotto, were on his radar.

The men’s and women’s competition, hosted at Moorebank Hockey Complex and Macarthur Hockey Complex respectively, will begin at 8am today.

The championships will be livestreamed on The Daily Telegraph website.