Hockey NSW Awards Night Honours Grassroots Heroes

Grassroots hockey volunteers who worked tirelessly during 2020 were the main focus of this year's scaled-back Hockey NSW Awards Night. 

Held in Tamworth over the weekend to coincide with the Regional Challenge, the HNSW Awards Night recognised and acknowledged the outstanding contribution that community volunteers made to hockey in the face of COVID last year. Over 100 guests from Clubs and Associations across NSW attended the evening, held at the Rydges Powerhouse Hotel. 

The event was hosted by two young, local New England players - Lily Nielson and Oliver McGill - who took on the MC duties with enthusiasm.

With all representative hockey tournaments cancelled, the focus instead turned to our Community Awards and some brand new COVID inspired categories. Nominations were sought from our wider community at the end of last year, and over 100 submissions were whittled down to a short but very deserving list of winners. 

On the night, three new award categories were introduced - Community Publicity of the Year, COVID Safe Venue of the Year and COVID Safe Administrator of the Year. Our Community Distinguished Long Service Award was also expanded from one winner to four. 

The winners on the night came from right across NSW and spanned generations, with our youngest winner aged just 15 and our oldest over 80 years old. It was also a night for the girls, with more than 70% of the awards being taken home by females. 

"Grassroots volunteers are the lifeblood of our sport and Hockey NSW were thrilled to be able to honour so many of them after the difficult year we just endured," said David Thompson, Hockey NSW CEO. 

"While it wasn't like our typical Awards Nights, it was still an extremely special evening for everyone who attended. I'd like to extend my gratitude to everyone who travelled to attend the event and to everyone who made the night possible."

A full list of winners can be found below.