Hockey in the south east of South Australia

The Lower South East Hockey Association has evolved as a result of around 100 years of interest in the sport in the South East. The first game of organised hockey in Mt Gambier was played on the 9^th of September 1914 soon after a group of local ladies had formed the Mt Gambier Hockey Club after seeking permission from the A & H Society to train on the showgrounds. That first game was played against a group of men who were forced to play in skirts as “in ordinary men’s dress they would be too active in the field for the ladies”. Another match was to be held a few weeks later but many of the men failed to turn up when it was revealed that they would be required this time to wear cornsacks instead of skirts. Play further developed in 1915 when the ladies staged several matches against a team from Mt Gambier High School.

Competition was not continual until the 1930’s because of the period of recovery after the First World War and due to the general development of the game. Locally, men and women continued to play against one another at the Showgrounds, Frew Park and Vansittart Park but the ladies also played intertown competitions called the Skene Cup and Weise Cup against teams from Naracoorte, Millicent, Penola and other South East and Victorian towns. Hockey had actually started a little earlier in Naracoorte with games recorded as early as 1910. Just across the border in Portland, reports can be found of competitions as early as 1907.

Following World War II the new women’s Mt Gambier Hockey Association was formed in 1946. The town was broken up into zones and teams of North, South, East and West who along with a team from Mt Gambier High School competed for the Harry Edwards Cup. By this stage the men had their own competition but it was not official with their own association not being formed until 1957.

In 1956 Mt Gambier was pleased to receive a receive a visit from the Canadian National Hockey team who received a formal reception and who played a game against the representative Mt Gambier team as a curtain raiser to a local football game at Vansitart Park. Records suggest that this was the first time the Mt Gambier players played on a full sized field although that is uncertain. The representative team also continued to play intertown competitions, now playing for the Hinton cup which proved a very successful hunting ground for the Tatiara region.   In 1957, competition moved to Olympic Park with the women’s association and the newly formed men’s association both playing there.

The late 50’s & 60’s saw the game explode in Mt Gambier. The competition was dezoned which saw an influx in playing numbers and the competition drastically improve. Teams were now travelling to numerous competitions including the Riverland and SA Country Championships in Adelaide and Easter Carnival hosted by the Enfield Hockey Club. Although Olympic Park was the competitions base, the expanded competition required the use of extra fields at Vansitart Park and school grounds including Reidy Park. Naracoorte joined the men’s association and played regularly until the late 70’s. They would return to the competition later and remain a valuable member of the association. Penola and Millicent teams also joined the competition with Portland joining in the 80’s. The local primary school competition was also developed over these years with that competition ultimately evolving into the LSEHA juniors.

After many years as separate organisations the womens’s and men’s competitions finally got together in the mid 70’s. The Lower South East Hockey Association was incorporated in 1976 with competition commencing at the new Blue Lake Sports Park facilities in 1978. Clubrooms were built in 1980 and opened in 1981 with the association taking on the full financial burden. 1983 saw the association host its first National Championships with the u13’s staging a very successful competition featuring at least one future Olympian.

Throughout the 70’s and 80’s the Mt Gambier Easter carnival proved to be an annual highlight for Mt Gambier clubs and many visiting teams. It went some way towards establishing Mt Gambier in the hockey community and gave local clubs the opportunity to test themselves. It was around this time that we first saw South East players gain individual recognition with players selected for state and national teams. This trend continues today with players and administrators regularly heading off on state duty.

The game continued to develop in Mt Gambier with the opening of the turf facilities in the late 80’s taking the game to a whole new level. The social aspect of the sport suffered a little with games spread across the entire weekend but the quality of play skyrocketed. The Lower South East Hockey Association continued to bring home silverware from state championships and the opportunity for individual development, success and selection had also increased further.

Over time, teams and clubs have come and gone but the game continues to hold it’s place in the Mt Gambier sporting community. The turf has been replaced a couple of times since it was first installed with the current blue turf being the most visible and most appropriate for Blue Lake Sports Park. With a strong base of founding clubs and the legacy of 37 Life Members to draw on hockey is alive and well in the South East.