Hockeyroo Sophie Taylor lauds new national league, Hockey One
Hockeyroos star Sophie Taylor says Australia’s new domestic hockey competition will encourage a legion of new fans to watch the sport.
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Hockeyroos star Sophie Taylor says Australia’s new domestic hockey competition will encourage a legion of new fans to watch the sport.
Taking cues from cricket’s Big Bash League, Hockey One is a new, seven-team, city-based domestic competition that replaces the old Australian Hockey League.
HOCKEY ONE: ALL ABOUT THE NEW LEAGUE
And Taylor says she can’t wait to represent Victoria’s entrant, Hockey Club Melbourne, when the six-week tournament begins in September.
“It’s been a long time coming, but it’s so exciting for hockey to have a new domestic league that we can all be a part of,” Taylor, who has 12 international caps, said.
“We just haven’t had a platform in which we can actually take hockey to the public. All my AHL, you play a two-week tournament interstate, so it’s great for the state that gets it, but Melbourne hasn’t had an Australian Hockey League for years.
“It will mean more exposure for hockey — we have a massive supporter base in hockey itself, but we’ll actually be taking the game out there to people who maybe haven’t seen hockey before.
“And for them to be able to turn on the TV or turn on Kayo Sports and go, ‘there’s regular hockey for me to watch’, is exciting.”
Two FIH Pro League events at Melbourne’s State Hockey Centre sold out in February and Taylor says the new league can build on that interest in the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras, with international stars set to play for their home towns.
Along with Melbourne, the new clubs are Adelaide Fire, Brisbane Blaze, Canberra Chill, NSW Pride, Perth Thundersticks and Tassie Tigers.
Taylor, a product of the powerful Camberwell Hockey Club, says the new club gives all Victorians one team to get behind.
“We want to have the biggest and the best supporter base, we showed last year how many people we got down to our AHL games, we want to be a striking force as Hockey Club Melbourne and really be competitive against all the other cities and teams,” she said.
Several rule innovations were trialled during last year’s AHL, including ‘Pump Plays’, field goal conversions and ‘shootouts’ in the event of a drawn game, with organisers still to decide which ones will be included in the new competition.
Hockey Victoria boss Andrew Skillern said the new league would be perfect for sports-mad Melbourne.
“The league will provide a platform for us to develop champions for both young girls and boys to aspire to become,” Skillern said.
“Presenting our elite women’s and men’s teams as one on match days, via the one brand and via broadcast will demonstrate true gender equity, something that not all codes can truly do.”
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