A NEW Mount Isa hockey team has formed so that it can compete in the Masters to be held in New Zealand.
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Most of the Tata’s players are Mount Isa based but a player from Gympie, and three from Western Australia have joined.
Tata’s coach Ray Towler said their first game at the Masters in Auckland will be held on April 22. They play seven games in total.
The team formed after local hockey players Dianne Smith and Danielle Harris decided to play in the Masters in a Victorian based team.
The boys caught wind as well and thought they would play. It’s been fun helping them sort it out.”
- Danielle Harris
Harris joined the team at the request of her Victorian based mother. It was hard to refuse her mother’s 60th birthday request. Harris and Smith joined and once local male hockey players heard about it they decided to form their own team.
“The boys caught wind as well and thought they would play,” Harris said.
“It’s been fun helping them sort it out.”
Smith agreed. “It’s been interesting watching the development including the logo and the team name.”
The players found the sponsorship from Beaurepaires and Martyr Training Services and then had to come up with a team name.
The team collectively credits goalkeeper Mark Liddle for coining the name Tata’s at a meeting, although he he said he could not remember doing so.
The original plan had been to form a team for a five-a-side hockey competition. But it had been cancelled due to lack of interest, said Harris. So they decided to compete in the Masters instead.
Harris’s father Bryan Blacka, from Gympie, decided to step out from hockey umpiring to play in the team as well. He would be playing alongside a son-in-law.
Three players from Kalgoorlie and Carnarvon joined after making a request on an online hockey forum.
The team was formed last October, Towler said.
But they had been training since January in preparation for the Masters.
Towler said the main focus in training had been building up the team’s fitness. They had practised with four sessions a week.
They looked forward to the experience of playing on water based turf, he said.
The Masters will be held in Auckland from April 22 to April 30. Towler said most players depart from the Mount Isa Airport on the first flight of Thursday, April 20.
