Orbost Hockey Club celebrated a significant milestone last weekend when it marked the 60th anniversary of its formation.
Originally established as four women’s teams in the Orbost Women’s Hockey Association, in 1963 the club has become an integral part of the fabric of the sporting and social life of the town and its surrounds, so it was fitting so many past and present players, supporters and their families gathered to celebrate the occasion both on and off the field.
From early on the Saturday morning a host of volunteers descended on the club’s home base at Orbost Recreation Reserve, which fittingly was the site of those first hockey games played in town back in the 1960s to set up the day’s entertainments, which in addition to the usual suite of matches in the East Gippsland Hockey Association competition, included a jumping castle, face painting and tasty treats aplenty in the canteen.
With the day’s opponents from the combined Bairnsdale / Nagle club unable to field a women’s side, an opportunity to play a fun exhibition match presented itself in between the usual junior and senior fixtures.
With one side sporting the club’s long-established Green and Gold colours and the other the historical red tops of one of the founding teams from 1963, an all-ages contest broke out that drew in all manner of current and former junior and senior players, as well as a handful of club volunteers that had never previously wielded a hockey stick.
IMAGE: Members of Orbost Hockey Club’s ’s women’s team put on their finery and their dancing shoes at the 60th anniversary ball at the Orbost Golf Club last Saturday (PS)
