Margaret River’s Aran Zalewski on hand to open Margaret River Hockey Club’s new training field

Margaret River hockey enthusiasts had the chance to hone their skills and get up close and personal with one of the sport’s biggest names in the midst of celebrating the official opening of their half-court training field.

After several years of hard work and applying for grants, the Margaret River Hockey Club officially opened its new facility at Gloucester Park on Saturday with an afternoon of skills workshops and festivities.

Kookaburras co-captain and hometown hero Aran Zalewski was on hand as club ambassador, alongside coach Colin Batch.

The pair held a number of skills workshops throughout the afternoon before taking part in a Q&A session, allowing people to learn more about the sport at an elite level.

Zalewski told the South Western Times it was great to be back home in Margaret River for the occasion.

“It’s probably been a long time coming but we thought it might never happen so it’s very exciting for the club,” he said.

“I think a lot of time, passion and energy has been put into hockey down here over the years — obviously a lot of time spent on the road going to Busselton and Bunbury.

“It’s great not just for the club but specifically for grassroots sports to get kids out here playing hockey.

“I think about 20 years ago it was me just being that kid playing hockey on the grass, so to now have a facility that they can play on that’s similar to what’s happening around the country and around the world, it’s awesome and so good to see.

“Hopefully we can get more kids into the game which is our goal as a sport — get as many kids coming down here and having fun.”

The half-pitch comes as a result of years of behind-the-scenes efforts by the Margaret River Hockey Club, with parents and volunteers agitating for a permanent fixture to help save long car rides to training sessions in Busselton.

After finishing in fourth place in the 2023 Hockey World Cup in January, Zalewski said the Kookaburras were now spending time reflecting on where the group needed to be ahead of the next lot of competitions.

“We probably didn’t get the result that we wanted as a group but sometimes that’s good because it makes you reassess your goals and how you’re doing things in the process,” he said.

“For us, certainly now, it’s about trying to improve and get better and look at that campaign I guess as a line in the sand moving forward to what we want to do as a group.

“Falling just short gives you that perspective that you might have to do things a little bit differently or change things or do things better next time so that’s what we’re trying to do going into the next year and then Paris in 2024.”

The Kookaburras will be heading off to New Zealand to compete in the FIH Pro League, kicking off from April 22, before travelling to Europe in June.

“Heaps of travel for us and lots of competitions which is good — we’ve probably been starved of it through COVID so we’ll be on the road quite a bit,” Zalewski said.

“It gets tiring but that’s why we love playing and travelling around the world playing against the best teams. It’s a lot of fun.”