HC Melbourne
Full nameHockey Club Melbourne
Founded17 April 2019; 4 years ago (2019-04-17)
Home groundState Netball and Hockey Centre, Melbourne, Australia
(Capacity 8,000)
LeagueHockey One
Websitehockeyvictoria.org.au

HC Melbourne is an Australian professional field hockey club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club was established in 2019, and is one of 7 clubs to compete in Hockey Australia's premier domestic competition, Hockey One.[1]

The club unifies both men and women under one name,[2] unlike Victoria's former representation in the Australian Hockey League as the VIC Vikings (men) and VIC Vipers (women).[3][4]

HC Melbourne competed for the first time in the inaugural season of Hockey One, which was contested from late September through to mid November 2019.

History

HC Melbourne, along with six other teams, was founded on 17 April 2019 as part of Hockey Australia's development of hockey.[5]

HC Melbourne opted for a pure hockey club name, with a view to attracting the Victoria hockey public community whom CEO Andrew Skillern said "showed the rest of the country and the world what we can achieve by getting behind the home team and filling the stands as part of the 2019 FIH Pro League and we cannot wait to have the same support in the new league. The club logo includes 'M' for Melbourne.

Hockey Victoria had over 1,400 inaugural HC Melbourne members before the launch of the club. Hockey Victoria had strong aspirations to double their membership base before the season’s opening match, matching the club's bold identity.

Uniform

HC Melbourne's colours are black and white with gold. The uniform moves away from Victoria's traditional navy blue.

HC Melbourne Men's Uniform
HC Melbourne Women's Uniform

Home Stadium

HC Melbourne are based out of the State Netball and Hockey Centre in Victoria's capital city, Melbourne. The stadium has a capacity of 8,000 spectators, with 1,000 fixed seats.[6]

Throughout the Hockey One league, HC Melbourne plays a number of home games at the stadium.[7]

Teams

Men's team

The following players were named in the men's squad.[8]

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 FW  AUS Craig Marais
2 MF  AUS Max Henry
3 DF  AUS Simon Borger
5 MF  AUS Andrew Philpott
8 MF  AUS Joshua Pollard
9 FW  AUS Nathan Ephraums
10 FW  AUS Russell Ford (Captain)
11 GK  AUS George Bazley
12 MF  AUS Casey Hammond
13 DF  AUS Jayshaan Randhawa
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 DF  AUS Jonathan Bretherton
15 DF  AUS Josh Simmonds
17 FW  AUS Kiran Arunasalam
18 GK  AUS Johan Durst
21 FW  AUS Jake Sherren
23 DF  AUS Joel Carroll
24 FW  AUS James Knee
25 FW  AUS Aaron Kleinschmidt
29 DF  AUS Oscar Wookey

Women's team

The following players were named in the women's preliminary squad.[9]

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  AUS Bridget Laurance
2 FW  AUS Aisling Utri
3 MF  AUS Nicola Hammond
4 MF  AUS Amy Lawton
5 MF  AUS Kristina Bates
6 DF  AUS Josie Lawton
7 FW  AUS Ciara Utri
8 FW  NZL Hannah Cotter
9 DF  AUS Carly James
10 MF  ARG Rosario Villagra
No. Pos. Nation Player
11 MF  BEL Joanne Peeters
12 DF  AUS Emily Hamilton-Smith
13 DF  AUS Megan Alakus
14 DF  AUS Anna Moore
15 FW  AUS Olivia Downes
16 MF  AUS Gracie Geddis
20 DF  AUS Zali Ward
22 FW  AUS Madeleine Ratcliffe
25 FW  AUS Hannah Gravenall (C)
27 GK  AUS Rachael Lynch

References

  1. ^ "Hockey Club Melbourne" (PDF). Hockey Victoria. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  2. ^ "Hockey One - WHAT'S THE CONCEPT?". hockeyone.com.au. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
  3. ^ "VIC Vikings". hockeyaustralia.altiusrt.com. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  4. ^ "VIC Vipers". hockeyaustralia.altiusrt.com. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  5. ^ "A New Era Begins - Hockey One Is Here!". Hockey Australia. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  6. ^ "Capacity for hockey". www.melbourne2006.com.au. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  7. ^ "Hockey One - WHAT'S THE FORMAT?". hockeyone.com.au. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  8. ^ "Hockey Club Melbourne's Men's Squad". Hockey Victoria. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  9. ^ "Hockey Club Melbourne's Women's Squad" (PDF). Hockey Victoria. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
Categories