2024 Australia Day Acceptance Speech = Read by Kyle Brereton
The Wodonga Hockey Club boasts a rich 95-year history of fostering hockey in Wodonga, starting with the formation of a women’s club in 1928.
Since then, hockey has persevered and evolved in Wodonga through diverse forms of competition and due to the dedication of its members, of which there are currently more than 200.
In June 2023, the new Wodonga Hockey Club Pavilion and the upgraded Wodonga Hockey Club and Wodonga BMX Club Change Room facilities were officially opened at Birallee Park, Wodonga.
This $3.2m project was funded at the federal, state, and local government levels, and Wodonga Hockey Club Inc., which proudly contributed more than $250,000 to this project.
Without the Wodonga Hockey Club committee’s dedication, and its members’ support, this would not have happened.
These facilities are now used by more than 1500 hockey players in the Hockey Albury Wodonga region, and the students of local schools.
The club has been a leader in community initiatives over the years, including being the first sporting team in North East Victoria, and the first with Hockey Albury Wodonga, to adopt Fair Go Sport, the forerunner to the Pride Round. The club also celebrates an Indigenous Round with a unique styled endorsed uniform.
The Wodonga Hockey Club established The Anzac Day Trophy between itself and Falcons Hockey Club in 2023 and the Chandler-Maggs Shield between the club and Magpies Hockey Club, which is ‘A Call to Arms Men’s Cancer’ fundraiser day in remembrance of Dave Chandler and Andrew Maggs, valued past members, who both passed away from cancer at about 40.