Big Bash-style hockey league with radical rules and city-based teams to launch in Australia
THE national hockey landscape is set for a shake-up, with a new league with new rules set to give the sport a massive boost. How will it work? ELIZA SEWELL looks at the changes.
Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A BIG Bash-style hockey league with radical rules and city-based teams is set to launch in Australia.
Still without a name, the national league has already won the support of Fox Sports.
With a field goal conversion rule — a rugby league style conversion shot for goals scored from the field of play or penalty strokes — and “pump plays” — where teams are restricted to nine players (from 11) for the last five minutes of a chosen quarter with goals worth double — the sport hopes to relaunch to a new audience while also thrilling its current fans.
Eight city-based clubs with women’s and men’s sides will don colourful uniforms with a draft to determine the recruits.
International marquee players will also feature in the competition, expected to run during October and November next year.
Hockey Australia chief executive Matt Favier said the new home-and-away league, which will replace the current Australian Hockey League (which is being played now), was an exciting move for the sport.
“We’re trying to strike a balance between being innovative and pushing the boundaries on what’s possible with the game to not only retain current fans, but engage new fans,” he said.
“It’s a great game, it’s incredibly fast … but we’ve lacked a level of visibility outside of Olympic and Commonwealth Games years. We want to change that and create what is a commercially sustainable, interesting and engaging product.
“We’re trialling two particular rule variations, which we think provide just another interesting facet of the game without fundamentally changing the game.
“We want to retain the integrity of hockey, from the full Olympic version, but we also want to be innovative to create what we’re calling more celebratory moments.
“To incentivise a field goal, we’re creating this field goal conversion.”
Originally published as Big Bash-style hockey league with radical rules and city-based teams to launch in Australia