Dubbo Hockey Association are preparing for the 2023 Masters in the Bush

The three-day event will begin on Friday running all the way through to Sunday as 15 teams from NSW and QLD travel to Dubbo for the competition.

Now in its third year, the Masters in the Bush is going from strength to strength, after winning Community Event of the Year at the Hockey NSW awards night in 2022.

Dubbo Hockey Association's Tracie Hardie-Jones and the rest of the committee have been hard at work behind the scenes planning the competition, with another strong mixture of teams expected.

"We've got 15 teams coming this year," she said.

"We could have a few more teams, the problem is we are pushing to get that second turf.

"Because we are playing from 7am until 9pm, we tried to keep it as sort of a boutique tournament right now.

"If we keep letting teams in then we won't have the facilities other than playing on grass.

"Not too many people like to play on grass these days."

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Since the 2022 event, Dubbo Hockey Association had been pushing for funding to construct a second turf pitch which would attract bigger events as well as growing the Masters in the Bush event.

Having turned away some sides, Hardie-Jones admitted they had been loyal to those teams who had been supportive over the years.

"The people who have been coming for a while get first choice," she said.

"Then we fill the rest of the spots, we have a fair few people waiting who all want to come."

With several Dubbo Hockey stars going on to represent NSW at various levels over the past year, Hardie-Jones is hopeful things will improve for the club.

"We are working hard towards one day hopefully securing a second turf," she said.

"It is a really good thing to have in the way of promoting hockey in Dubbo.

"Everybody loves to come out and they enjoy the atmosphere.

"They make a weekend of it and some make a week of it."

Last year, a Canberra side defeated Parkes in the final of the Division 1 while a North Shore side and a team from Maitland won the Division 2 and 3 titles.

Away from matches, Hardie-Jones admitted a novelty event will be held to give some players the chance to show their skill.

"We've got a dash for cash where people run the length of the field," she said.

"It's quite fun to watch."

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