By AMELIA ROY

Last weekend, our Northern Sydney Beaches U14 girls’ hockey team travelled to Grafton for the State Championships – and we came second.

It was an incredible experience to play at that level and make it all the way to the big dance, especially since no team from our area had done that in five years. We fought hard in every match, and although we lost the final 3–1, we were proud to bring home silver.

But while the result was amazing, it also showed us something bigger: how far we’ve come, even with limited access to facilities.

Our team trains across different fields, sometimes travelling over an hour just to find pitch time. Compared to other sports in our area, hockey – especially girls’ hockey – doesn’t get the same support.

That’s frustrating when you consider that Australia is currently ranked third in the world for women’s hockey. How can we be one of the top nations globally, but still have girls’ teams struggling to find a field to train on?

In New South Wales, only one in three sporting facilities are considered female-friendly. A 2022 report found that over 60% of girls stop playing sport by age 15, and one of the biggest reasons is lack of access. We love this sport, but the reality is, it’s hard to keep going when your team must fight for space and time just to practise.

If there were more local hockey pitches on the Northern Beaches, more girls could try the sport – and stick with it. There’s so much potential in our community, but without the right facilities, that potential goes to waste.

Bringing home silver showed what we can do with limited resources. Imagine what we could do with proper support.

It’s time for the community, councils, and sporting bodies to step up. If Australia wants to stay at the top of the world stage in women’s hockey, we need to start with grassroots teams like ours.

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