Hockey Geelong is the governing body for the sport of field hockey in the region of the city of Geelong, Australia. HG coordinates men's, women's and junior local competition, as well as elite men's and women's squads in the Victorian State League conducted by Hockey Victoria.
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History
The first hockey team in Geelong was founded in 1954, traveling to Melbourne to compete on a weekly basis. The Geelong Men's Hockey Association was then formed in 1966, providing for local competition since then.
The association plays most of its matches on the synthetic pitch at Stead Park, Corio. Until 1992 Stead Park consisted only of grass fields, but in that year a sand-based synthetic turf was installed and stage 1 of the clubrooms constructed in their current locations. In 2008 this pitch was replaced with a hybrid (wet-dry) pitch. The Stead Park Master Plan (endorsed by the City of Greater Geelong on 28 January 2010) recommends the construction of a second synthetic pitch alongside the current one.
The facility at Stead Park was named the "Jim Kirk Pitch" in 2008 to honour the past president who was instrumental in the provision of both the 1992 and 2008 synthetic surfaces. The southern end of the ground is named the "Climpson Family End" and the northern is the "Burns Family End" in honour of two of the largest and most successful Geelong hockey families.
Awards
The Association has a number of annual awards issued to members who demonstrate particular significance to Hockey Geelong as a whole. These include