The Wangaratta hockey club committee are asking for funding to pay for lights to install at our hockey field. The club currently has approx 100 members and we as a committee are actively trying to grow the club.
We have been lucky enough to be able to hire the newly laid (in 2021) synthetic turf which is located on the grounds of the local school, Wangaratta Cathedral College on the Wangaratta-Whitfield Rd, in Wangaratta, Victoria. This opportunity has taken our club off the grass field at Appin Park and allowed us to lift our skills and be more competitive with other clubs in our region. To the point, our senior women’s team made it to the grand final in 2022 for the first time but unfortunately lost the game. We are also excited by the juniors coming through the club and need to continue to support our kids that have a passion for hockey.
Our situation is, we were using the old bowling club synthetic turf in Wangaratta in 2022 for training at night because it is not used for bowls anymore and they have lights. The field was not ideal and small but we made the best of our situation. As another alternative, we also set up a generator and installed makeshift lights at one end of our field at Cathedral College to give us more room. But this option was not the best, as the light was not enough to train properly as it barely covered the area around the goals and we had to set up and run the generator every time.
At the end of 2022 we were told we can’t use the bowling club grounds at the Wangaratta Club anymore. So we are now desperate for a solution in 2023. Our hockey season is about to start in March and it will soon be getting dark in Autumn/Winter and we won’t be able to train because it gets dark at about 5.30 pm. So our hockey club is in real trouble……
We have approached the Wangaratta council, the Cathedral College school and the hockey association for funding to install permanent lights but this is very expensive (approx $300k) and there is no confirmation this will happen in the near future.
So our solution is to install quality temporary lights to the grounds at the field at the Cathedral College school. We have received a quote for the work. It includes extending power under the road from the school to the field and installing appropriate poles and switches. It is a much cheaper and quicker option than waiting for permanent lights. The power lines we set up now to get from the school to the field will save us money long-term, if permanent light structures are ever built. The quote has come in at approx $20k.
So that’s our predicament. We have approx 3 mths to sort out a solution before winter hits and it gets dark early otherwise our club will have no option to train. Note our games are normally played during the day over the weekend. We as a committee and a club would really appreciate and be grateful for any donations . Thank you.