The History of Caboolture Hockey Club
In The Beginning…
The club began when former Redcliffe Hockey Club members Alex and Jan Nunn moved to Caboolture in 1983. They realised there was no hockey club in the area, so they wasted no time in placing advertisements in the local papers calling for people who were interested in the sport. It was not long after when the first mixed teams of men, women and juniors were born.
The first official meeting was held on March 5 1985 when the players decided it was time they formed a club. The result was the Caboolture Hockey Club. 12 people attended the first meeting and Alex Nunn was elected the club’s first president. Permission was obtained from Caboolture High School to use their fields and the first official games were held there on March 16 1985. Games continued successfully all season at Caboolture High School and Wamuran State School. The club was successful in requesting second-hand equipment from Redcliffe Hockey Club, allowing for further development.
In April 1985 the club wrote to the Caboolture Shire Council advising of its formation and requested their very own fields. Monthly meetings were held at the Caboolture Kindergarten in the same year.
The Early Competition…
In August 1985 the Caboolture Hockey Club approached Redcliffe, Pine Rivers and Buderim regarding the formation of an inter-shire competition for the next season. In September 1985 Wamuran split and formed their own club. In the space of nine months, the district had two hockey clubs. At the same time the Caboolture & District Hockey Association was also formed.
In September 1985 the Caboolture Shire Council allocated land at Lindsay & Clarke Roads in Morayfield for hockey fields, a clubhouse, two cricket ovals and $15,000 for its development. Twilight hockey also commenced in October under lights at the lakes, Apex Park.
In 1986 the club received notice from the Sunshine Coast team that they wished to compete in Caboolture’s inter-shire competition, but as no reply had been received from Redcliffe or Pine Rivers, the Caboolture Hockey Club moved to join the Sunshine Coast competition.
Inaugural Minkey Carnival…
In July 1986 the club held its first Minkey Carnival at Caboolture High School with invitations to Redcliffe, Wamuran, Pine Rivers, Sunshine Coast, Commercial, City United and Valleys. The Caboolture Hockey Club Minkey and Modified Carnival continues to this day as one of the main events on the calendar.
The New Grounds…
In 1987, while work continued on the Lindsay Road fields, training for the juniors began while the seniors trained under lights at the Caboolture Velodrome complex, Apex Park and Wamuran Sports Fields. The construction of the clubhouse began with a registered builder. Club volunteers made up the labour force under the guidance and assistance of the registered builder.
In 1988 the Caboolture Hockey Club became an IncorporatedAassociation and on March 20 1988 the clubhouse and fields were officially opened by the Mayor, Alex Barr.
The First Lights…
In June 1988 discussion started regarding lighting for the Lindsay Road fields; however, these were not to be until 1992 when a $6,000 Westpac loan was taken out by 10 guarantors from the club. A government grant of $1,800 was received and the loan was paid off in around 18 months from fundraising activities and fees.
A New Association and Club Name…
By late 1989 the club had become disgruntled with the competition at the Sunshine Coast. Sunshine Coast teams were also unhappy with having to travel to Caboolture for games and in 1990 the club pulled their senior teams out of the competition and formed the Murrumba Association with teams playing against Redcliffe and Pine Rivers. The juniors, however, continued to play at the Sunshine Coast. The Murrumba competition, unfortunately, proved to be unsuccessful and the club rejoined the Sunshine Coast competition by 1991.
In 1993 the Caboolture and Wamuran clubs joined forces and became ‘United Hockey Club’. The purpose was to strengthen the southern Sunshine Coast hockey clubs and to give the Under 16 players a stepping stone to the senior competition. For two years it was a successful amalgamation with the senior women winning a premiership in the A grade competition.
Junior Tour…
In 1993, the club organised a week-long tour for all junior club members so they could travel through southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. The tour travelled to centres such as Toowoomba, Ballandean, Tamworth, Wauchope and Grafton playing games against all centres. The tour members stayed in sports stadiums, scout halls and schools and travelled with their own personal chefs who travelled ahead and had meals prepared for the tour bus when they arrived. This took an enormous amount of organisation by some club members and was a huge success.
More Lights…
In 2000, the club was successful in obtaining grant money to erect a second light pole and lights. Work commenced on this project and the lights came into effect for the 2001 season. With the installation of the second set of lights, twilight hockey was able to start again at the Lindsay Road fields.
A New Grass Field…
In August 2002 the Caboolture Shire Council requested and received permission from club members to re-turf the main field. This commenced at the completion of the Sunshine Coast fixture season with the idea being that the club would play twilight hockey at the beginning of the next year instead of October 2002. The council immediately began removing the existing grass, cultivating the field and then planting stolons of a new grass called tiff-sports. The field was ready for twilight hockey in March 2003 and the first home game on the new field was held May 17 2003 when the new field was officially opened by the Mayor, Joy Leishman. The field was touted as one of the best grass fields in Australia and was a huge credit to the council and their ground staff.
A New Association…
Also in August 2002 the Caboolture Hockey Club joined forces with the Redcliffe and Wamuran Hockey Clubs to try and establish an artificial turf field in the region. The three clubs formed an association called North Moreton Coast & Country Hockey Association and began making submissions to Government at all levels in an effort to establish a world-class artificial surface and venue in the North Lakes area.
