Today marks a historic development in Victorian hockey.
After 12 months of market research, product development and testing, Hockey Victoria (HV) have launched a dedicated social hockey website, which will serve as a key portal for all of its social hockey activities - http://socialhockey.com.au/
“This is an exciting strategic development for the organisation, and our sport more broadly, as it will give us opportunities to attract and retain more people”, said Sash Herceg, HV General Manager – Hockey Operations. “More importantly, these new formats will hopefully get more people active for life”, continued Herceg.
With the VicHealth support, and in partnership with La Trobe University’s Centre for Sport & Social Impact, HV have designed and developed three new hockey products to suit most people – from someone who’s never played hockey before, a past hockey player, all the way through to time conscious people wanting to get fit.
The new formats were developed on the back of the Australian Sports Commission Market Segmentation research, and cover elements such as player safety, delivery time and duration, access, etc. The new formats are:
J-Ball – designed for people new to the game, delivered in a friendly, safe and social environment. Easy rules, modified equipment, and smaller field of play with three zones make J-Ball the perfect game for anyone new to the game! Anyone can....
Hockey Sixers – a social format of the game designed to re-engage past hockey players and provide additional social hockey opportunities for the current players. Played on the same court as J-Ball, however without the zones, and using the traditional hockey sticks.
KE40 – for anyone wanting to get fit or stay fit, learn about hockey skills, and have fun in a friendly environment. A great cardio workout delivered at the same time as junior training, KE40 will save you time, increase your fitness and you can even learn a few hockey skills along the way too. KE is pronounced as ‘key’ (stemming from hoc-KE) and 40 represents a 40 minute session.
The inaugural J-Ball and Hockey Sixers seasons will be delivered at Essendon Hockey Centre from Tuesday 25 October and Thursday 27 October. The season will conclude after six weeks of delivery – 29 November for J-Ball and 1 December for Hockey Sixers. More information is available via the website.
HV are conducting free “Come and Try” day at Essendon Hockey Centre (1 Hockey Lane, Ascot Vale) on Saturday 8 October, from 11am to 2pm. This will be an opportunity for everyone to experience the new formats for themselves. Free BBQ provided!
Herceg was very enthusiastic about the future social hockey developments, adding “While the programs will only be offered in Essendon in 2016, our intention is to keep adding venues across Victoria each year. We are currently in negotiations with Hockey Geelong about having J-Ball and Hockey Sixers delivered at Stead Park in early 2017. There is a good probability of having another metro venue in early 2017 too”.
Check out the following social media accounts if you wish to keep up with the latest on J-Ball:
Twitter: @JBallVic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jballvic/
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Hockey Victoria Media Contacts
Sash Herceg
General Manager – Hockey Operations
[email protected]
+61 (0)413 133 833
