East Gippsland Hockey Association
The East Gippsland Hockey Association is a field hockey league in the East Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The league features six divisions, Open (Men's), Women's, under 18s, under 15s under 13s and under 11s.
History
Until the early 21st century, the league was essentially structured to provide a women's competition, with girls and younger boys playing in the league's B division. Women's clubs in the league came from towns such as Bairnsdale, Swan Reach, Lindenow and Orbost, as well as a club based at Nagle College.
This structure did not provide for any competition for boys past the age of 12, nor a dedicated juniors competition for girls. This was remedied with the creation of an under 16s league in 1995. The under 16s competition saw Sale join the league from the Latrobe Valley Hockey Association. The move was initially only for junior matches, but club's senior teams eventually also left them and joined the EGHA. The league grew to eventually having under 13s, under 15s and under 18s divisions, a structure which has continued until the addition of under 11s in 2015.
Men competed in the Gippsland Men's Hockey Association, with Bairnsdale and Swan Reach fielding teams in this league until its collapse in around 2003. To fill the void in structured men's competition, the EGHA created its new "open" division, with teams consisting mainly of men. As the only men's hockey competition in Gippsland further east than Warragul, it has since seen the entry of teams from as far afield as Churchill, who entered a men's team for the 2009 season. Churchill left the competition in 2010, sorting after a team to play in the LVHA.
A lack of structured juniors' and men's competitions in the LHVA saw Maffra join the competition in 2005, fielding teams in all grades. The growth of hockey in the Sale area saw the creation of a team in the nearby town of Wurruk (now Wellington), which joined the league in 2007. Wurruk Hockey Club folded after relocating to Sale in 2011 due to the ground being resurfaced. From the defunct Wurruk Club, Wellington Hockey Club formed in Sale in 2011 and has expanded to field teams in all grades.
In 2014, the Grandfinal was hosted by Wellington Hockey Club at Lions Park in Sale. Nagle defeated Maffra after penalties in an exciting match (u13's), Nagle beat Maffra 2-1 (u15's), Nagle won against Bairnsdale after extra time (u18's), Sale beat Swan Reach, winning their first GF in recent times for women's and Nagle defeated Orbost in open after penalties. Under 11s exhibition matches were also held for the first time and due to interest the EGHA competition was expanded in 2015 to include Under 11s in the regular home and away season.
The 2015 Grand Final hosted at Sale's Stephenson Park venue saw the U13 division final with Orbost and Maffra, with Maffra taking out the win. The U15's final was made up of Sale and Nagle with Sale taking the victory with a 3-2 Win. In the U18 Division it was again a Nagle and Sale final with Sale making the most of the home ground advantage to win. The Women's 2015 Final saw a rematch of the 2013 and 2014 with Swan Reach and Sale again the top two sides of the season, It was Sale who went back to back taking the win in a tight game 1-0. In the Open competition it was Sale vs Swan Reach with no scores at the end of full-time it was Sale who went on to take the win in the second half of golden Goal extra time. The East Gippsland Best and Fairest winners for 2015 U13 - Thomas Wrigglesworth (Sale), U15 - Rohan Giblett (Bairnsdale), U18 - Lachlan Knowles (Sale), Women's - Sarah Boag (Sale), Open - Lachlan Knowles (Sale).
In 2016, the Grand Finals were again hosted by Wellington Hockey Club. After penalties, Maffra went back to back defeating Nagle to take out the under 13 premiership. Maffra also played in the under 15 final but lost 4-1 to Sale, also claiming back to back premierships. Sale also took home the premiership in the under 18's whilst Swan Reach won both the women's and men's finals.
Interleague Representative Squads
The EGHA is affiliated with Hockey Victoria and fields teams in junior and senior country championships. The East Gippslanders wear the colours of orange and royal blue for representative matches.
Clubs
| Clubs | Colours |
|---|---|
| Bairnsdale | |
| Maffra | |
| Nagle | |
| Orbost | |
| Sale | |
| Swan Reach | |
| Wellington |