TAMWORTH will become the “leading regional hockey” location in Australia with a recent funding windfall giving the city the chance to host national and international teams.
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A $9.6 million project will see the Tamworth Hockey fields revamped and mark the beginning of stage two of the Northern Inland Centre of Sporting Excellence development.
The hockey association will be able to add a third synthetic water-based field and update its current two fields which will make it one of five locations in Australia with three premier pitches.
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This means national championships could be hosted in town.
Tamworth Hockey Association president Mark O’Connor said it wouldn’t be inconceivable to see the NSW Waratahs or the Australian Kookaburras training in town.
Mr O’Connor said Tamworth hosted an international game between England and Australia in 1986 and it could even be something to emulate.
The first part of the upgrade includes the installation of a new irrigation system, new public toilets and change rooms, as well as disability facilities and an extension to the club house.
The state government chipped in the lion’s share of the funding, allocating $7.2 million from the regional sports infrastructure fund.
Council contributed $1.6 million, while Tamworth Hockey, itself, put $800,000 in the kitty.
Part of the funding will also go towards new roofing over warm-up areas at AELEC.
Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson said the project would help foster more young talent in the region which has already produced four Olympic hockey representatives.
“We’ve got to be able to provide the facilities so that we can foster young talent,” he said.
Tamworth mayor Col Murray said it would provide a profound impact on the city.
“There’s many ways stage two of the centre of excellence will benefit the town,” he said.
There is no start date set for stage two of the sporting centre project with soil testing still needed to be done on the site.