History
The Maryborough & District Hockey Association (MDHA) was established on the 3rd April, 1932 and is justifiably proud of its many achievements.
Maryborough is one of the very few centres in Queensland, which own the Freehold Title of its grounds. The first fields at Doonvilla were purchased in March 1932. The strength of the Association slowly grew, and after the return of the Australian Olympic Men's Team from Tokyo in 1964, the Captain of the team, John McBryde, who played his entire junior hockey and a portion of his senior years in Maryborough, visited all of the schools in the City inviting school children to play hockey. The number of teams grew from approximately 20 to 43 teams and larger playing facilities were needed.
In 1966, the Association purchased a portion of an old rubbish dump in Woodstock Street and converted it to first class playing fields, which officially opened in March, 1968.
Maryborough Hockey has nurtured hundreds of elite players, including Olympians John McBryde, Don McWatters, Mark Hager, Sharyn Simpson (McCarthy), Jenny Morris and Clover Maitland. Of these, four have captained Australia. In addition two others, lan McBryde and Kay Lehmann (Kindervarter) also played in the Australian team. On a State level, more than 350 players from Maryborough have represented Queensland from Juniors through to Seniors and Masters.
Facilities
The Maryborough Hockey Association fields are located on the corner of Woodstock and Neptune Streets only a short drive from the centre of town.
The facility consists of:
1 x water based international standard artificial turf
5 x full size grass fields
5 x half size modified junior fields
The Association also boasts an indoor sports stadium, which has had a $400K facelift in 2019.
Built in 1985, the stadium was originally used for Indoor Hockey, Cricket and Netball. For a number of years only Cricket and Netball were played, and our Indoor Hockey Following the upgrade it is now a "State of the art" specialist Indoor Hockey Field.
The MDHA Hockey Hall was built in 1967 after the purchase of the land. The walls of the hall are adorned with memorabilia and years of photos of past premiership winning teams, rep teams and Australian Representatives. Clubs are at liberty to use the hall for their functions, and dancing lessons are held weekly, but the hall is no longer available for public events.
Clubs & Competitions
The Association has as affiliate members the following clubs:
- Brothers
- Colts
- Granville
- Tinana
- United
- Wallaroos
We also have teams from our sister association, Hervey Bay Hockey Association, complete in our local competitions.
We run competitions for Men and Women including Divisions 1, 2, 3 and Masters as well as junior Divisions from Under 6 to Under 15. Between March and September each year fixtures are conducted Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights and Saturday morning, afternoon and evenings. For a great day out, come along and enjoy the fantastic family atmosphere. The hockey isn't bad either.
Indoor Hockey
During the summer period Maryborough conducts a great Indoor Competition 5 nights a week. There has been a resurgence in participation in Indoor due to the upgrade to our facility. Maryborough also hosts a number of Queensland Indoor Champsionships each year, and we are proud of the number of players who have been chosed for Queensland. Many of our officials are also involved on a State level including as Coaches, Managers, Umpires and Technical Officials.
Summer Hockey
From October to December, the MDHA plays a social "Summertime 9's" competition. This is designed to give people a chance to play socially, including people who have never played hockey before. The rules are modified and the competition is mixed gender. A great way to keep in touch with field hockey during the off-season.
