THE strength of Bathurst’s over 35s hockey will be on display from this Saturday at Cairns for the Men’s Masters Hockey Australian Championships.

Eighteen Bathurst representatives and managers will be among NSW sides in a 1,200-strong contingent of players looking to find success on the national stage.

Glenn Buttsworth is one of the most experienced in the Bathurst group, and this year takes a step up into the 60s competition.

He said the large amount of selections from the city are well deserved thanks to a committed group of players turning up for training throughout the year.

“It’s exciting. We’ve got a big lot of vets players in Bathurst and it’s always good to see new faces coming through like Wayne Wright in the 45s,” Buttsworth said.

“We started our training early in January and we already had 50 to 60 people turning up then. We kept training every Thursday night of the year and only just wrapped things up last Thursday. We were even getting good numbers through the cold nights which was great to see.”

Bathurst’s biggest representation will be in the 50s division two side which features four players.

Peter Davis, Paul Mellor, Noel Reardon and Grahame Haley make up the team while Kevin Sherman earned his spot in the division one team for the same age group.

Michael Willott will captain the 40s division two team with Mark Gunning his vice captain – the only Bathurst pairing to earn a leadership lock-out. 

Darren Taylor will feature alongside Wright for the 45s division two team.

Phil Baker has vice captaincy of the 55s division one squad and Kevin Menzies is part of the division two outfit.

Buttsworth brings the vice captain up to an impressive tally of three for the Bathurst group and he will play alongside Geoff Hadley.

John Willott and Dave Weal round out the playing squad in the 65s.

Three Bathurst managers – Keith Kauter (over 65s), Ric McDonald (50s division one) and Lisa Davis (50s division two) will also make the trip.

Buttsworth expects all NSW teams to feature prominently in the competition.

“They’re all competitive. The 55s and 60s are very strong sides. The guys in the 40s twos will also be strong, but all of the teams have very good chances of at least making the semis. I’d expect quite a few sides to be making it through to the finals,” he said.

“From Cairns they will be picking teams for the [Masters] World Cup which will be held in Australia next year. There’s a lot of guys who will be nominating for that and it gives them something extra to play for.” 

The competition will run until October 10.