Hockey Club Melbourne

HC Melbourne
Full nameHockey Club Melbourne
LeagueHockey One
Founded17 April 2019 (2019-04-17)
Home groundState Netball and Hockey Centre, Melbourne, Australia
(Capacity 8,000)
Websitehockeyvictoria.org.au

HC Melbourne is an Australian professional field hockey club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club was established in 2019, and is one of 7 clubs to compete in Hockey Australia's premier domestic competition, Hockey One.[1]

The club unifies both men and women under one name,[2] unlike Victoria's former representation in the Australian Hockey League as the VIC Vikings (men) and VIC Vipers (women).[3][4]

HC Melbourne competed for the first time in the inaugural season of Hockey One, which was contested from late September through to mid November 2019.

History

HC Melbourne, along with six other teams, was founded on 17 April 2019 as part of Hockey Australia's development of hockey.[5]

HC Melbourne opted for a pure hockey club name, with a view to attracting the Victoria hockey public community whom CEO Andrew Skillern said "showed the rest of the country and the world what we can achieve by getting behind the home team and filling the stands as part of the 2019 FIH Pro League and we cannot wait to have the same support in the new league. The club logo includes 'M' for Melbourne.

Hockey Victoria had over 1,400 inaugural HC Melbourne members before the launch of the club. Hockey Victoria had strong aspirations to double their membership base before the season’s opening match, matching the club's bold identity.

Uniform

HC Melbourne's colours are black and white with gold. The uniform moves away from Victoria's traditional navy blue.

Home Stadium

HC Melbourne are based out of the State Netball and Hockey Centre in Victoria's capital city, Melbourne. The stadium has a capacity of 8,000 spectators, with 1,000 fixed seats.[6]

Throughout the Hockey One league, HC Melbourne plays a number of home games at the stadium.[7]

Teams

Men's team

The following players were named in the men's squad.[8]

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 FW AUS Craig Marais
2 MF AUS Max Henry
3 DF AUS Simon Borger
5 MF AUS Andrew Philpott
8 MF AUS Joshua Pollard
13 DF AUS Jayshaan Randhawa
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 DF AUS Jonathan Bretherton
15 DF AUS Josh Simmonds
17 FW AUS Kiran Arunasalam
18 GK AUS Johan Durst
21 FW AUS Jake Sherren
23 DF AUS Joel Carroll
24 FW AUS James Knee
25 FW AUS Aaron Kleinschmidt
29 DF AUS Oscar Wookey

Women's team

The following players were named in the women's preliminary squad.[9]

No. Pos. Nation Player
MF AUS Laura Barden
MF AUS Kristina Bates
DF AUS Kary Chau
FW NZL Hannah Cotter
FW AUS Olivia Downes
DF AUS Josie Erbsland
MF AUS Gracie Geddis
FW AUS Zara Geddis
MF NZL Hannah Gravenall
DF AUS Emily Hamilton-Smith
DF AUS Alannah Hibbard
MF AUS Charlotte Hodgson
GK AUS Rene Hunter
No. Pos. Nation Player
FW AUS Dacia Koelmeyer
DF AUS Josie Lawton
MF AUS Charlotte Hodgson
GK AUS Emma Leighton
GK AUS Rachael Lynch
DF AUS Evie Stansby
FW GER Charlotte Stapenhorst
DF AUS Sophie Taylor
FW AUS Aisling Utri
MF AUS Ciara Utri
MF AUS Zali Ward
DF AUS Bianca Zurrer

References

  1. ^ "Hockey Club Melbourne" (PDF). Hockey Victoria. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  2. ^ "Hockey One - WHAT'S THE CONCEPT?". hockeyone.com.au. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  3. ^ "VIC Vikings". hockeyaustralia.altiusrt.com. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  4. ^ "VIC Vipers". hockeyaustralia.altiusrt.com. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  5. ^ "A New Era Begins - Hockey One Is Here!". Hockey Australia. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  6. ^ "Capacity for hockey". www.melbourne2006.com.au. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  7. ^ "Hockey One - WHAT'S THE FORMAT?". hockeyone.com.au. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  8. ^ "Hockey Club Melbourne's Men's Squad". Hockey Victoria. 5 July 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  9. ^ "Hockey Club Melbourne's Women's Squad" (PDF). Hockey Victoria. Retrieved 11 July 2019.