HOCKEY has had a wonderfully rich history both in Orange and in the region, and this history was celebrated with a commemorative dinner and combined 2014 presentation event last Friday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Orange women have had an Orange Women’s Hockey Club or Association running continuously since 1914, and were thus celebrating 100 years of operation.
The Orange men were involved in hockey in 1911, attending NSW Country week, but unfortunately have had a stop-start history over the years up until 1964, with the reforming of the association which has run continuously since then.
As a result they were celebrating a 50-year anniversary.
The event was attended by many life members including Carl Sharpe, Roger Bond, Gail Pringle, Val Gregory, Wanda Driscoll, Mitzy Parks, Lee Pickett, Gail Kennewell, Rosie Wells, Wayne Bennett and Peter Eslick, and the Orange Hockey community generously dug into the backs of cupboards and boxes to provide a mountain of memorabilia that was displayed on the evening.
Some of the more interesting pieces included an Australian jacket, generously donated to Orange Hockey some years ago by Stanley Garlick, who represented Australia in 1937.
We are interested to find out more information about Stan’s hockey participation in Orange and ask any people who may be related to Stan and can provide us with some additional information to get in contact with Orange Hockey.
The night was also a celebration of the achievements in 2014.
Trophies were handed out to the premiership-winning teams and Challenge Cup holders including CYMS Whittakers (women’s division one), XMen (men’s division one), Kinross 2 (women’s division two), CYMS RPT (women’s division three) and Canobolas Gold (women’s division four).
In men’s division two, City were the premiers and F-Troop claimed the Challenge Cup.
Best and fairest awards went to Haley Butcherine (women’s Premier League), Nick Sharp (men’s Premier League), Heidi Reed (division four women), Kate Brown (division three women), Eva Reith-Snare (division two women), Connor Morris (division two men), Tiffany Atkinson (division one women), and Gerry Shea and Adam Skelton (division one men).
The best and fairest goalkeepers were Karin Horan and Aaron Harman.
The most improved teams were the Molong Butcher Birds, for the women, and Confederates Raiders, for the men.
In the umpiring awards, Belinda Mills, Louis Shea and Henry Jones were given the encouragement prizes, Mac Reith-Snare took out the men’s proficiency, Grant Michell claimed the acknowledgement award, and Toffy Brown won the Services To Women’s prize.
The big awards on the night were the Sportsperson of the Year, and these went to Chloe Barrett for the women, and Andrew Rutledge for the men.
The men’s club championship was won by Confederates Hockey Club.
A presentation was made to the “most experienced” players still lining up in the competitions and these were Gail Pringle and Rick Hillier.
Many thanks to Michelle Stevenson and Tammy Wilson who were the key organisers of the night.
