Dubbo Hockey Association hosts successful Masters in the Bush carnival

A new high of 15 teams contested the weekend's carnival, with players coming from as far as Broken Hill, Sydney and even Queensland to take part.

While the action on the field at Pioneer Park delighted Hardie-Jones and all those who helped organise the event, the comments heard afterwards were equally pleasing.

"They've already got their dates for next year and re-booked so we can only see it growing," Hardie-Jones said.

"It's been a big confidence boost for this new board. It makes us confidence that we're on the right track to boost the profile of hockey in the Dubbo area.

"I think we're really putting Dubbo on the map."

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And rather than rest on their laurels, Dubbo Hockey Association is keen to make the most of the momentum.

It's been a big few months for the sport in the area as the Western Masters League proved hugely popular and it earned Dubbo Hockey Association the Community Event of the Year prize at the Hockey NSW awards night.

The major focus now is on earning funding so a second turf pitch can be developed at Pioneer Park and even bigger events can be held in the city.

"We've got a big following so we've just got to set our sights now on a second turf," Hardie-Jones said.

"Then we can do this sort of thing and hold state championships.

"It's obvious people want to come out and play hockey in our area and visit Dubbo and surrounds."

Facilities were already a little stretched on the weekend after a third division was added to the tournament after only two were contested last year.

A Canberra side defeated Parkes in the Division 1 grand final on Sunday while a team from Sydney's north shore and one from the Maitland region won the Division 2 and 3 titles respectively.

The winners of each division were awarded $500.

The Dubbo Hockey Association was also on show across the weekend, with two teams contesting the top division while there was also teams taking part in Division 2 and 3.

"The quality of hockey was of a quite high standard. The whole first division was pretty close," Hardie-Jones said, before praising the efforts of the Dubbo teams which took part.

"It just shows the depth Dubbo has. We had teams involved in all divisions.

"That (Division 3) gives our older ladies, our veterans, who are in that 70-to-80 age group an opportunity to be part of a carnival and it gave them an opportunity to play at that level."

Hardie-Jones added the Dubbo Hockey Association and all the volunteers deserved a huge amount of praise for running a carnival that left all the organisers "ecstatic".

Focus now turns to the new local competition, which will be starting next week.

Interested players can contact the Dubbo Hockey Association website or Facebook page.

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