THEY left it almost to the last minute but it's been confirmed: Bathurst will field a men's Central West Premier League Hockey team in 2024.
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A newly-formed Bathurst United outfit has been added to the draw for the upcoming season, which begins this Saturday, after enough players came together to commit for a full season's play.
Defending champions St Pat's didn't have enough returning players to sign up for 2024, originally leaving a four-team competition of newcomers Dubbo Lions, Parkes United, Orange Wanderers and Lithgow Storm.
However, the remaining Pat's players were able to draw more players from other local men's sides to keep the city involved in CWPLH.
Bathurst representative player Fletcher Norris was one of the driving forces behind the formation of a team.
The Canberra Chill Hockey One player picked up a serious knee injury from the latest edition of the Under 21s Australian Championships, putting his playing career on hold for the near future.
While he won't be able to take to the field himself Norris was determined to see Bathurst continuing to have a presence in the region's top men's competition to ensure up-and-coming players didn't have to travel far for a strong standard of hockey.
"There was a post that eventually went up saying 'Sorry guys, there won't be a Premier League team' and I just said 'Why isn't there?' We've got quite a few juniors playing in state teams at the moment," he said.
"I talked to a couple of guys about it. John Speer was the one who was really trying to get it up and going. My brother [Seth] is still playing in premier league and he was looking for a game on the weekend.
"I thought it'd be bad for those younger guys that they wouldn't get to experience a good level of hockey until the get to state champs. I said to Speersy if it would be alright to try and get a team together."
Norris has confirmed he'll coach the new side, while John Speer and Brett Daymond will manage the squad.
Majority of the squad of made up of the younger players from last year's winning St Pat's team.
"We've got a couple of players from Kelso and also a Buccaneers vets player," Norris said.
"There's a good mix of older and younger guys. We're just in the process of trying to get a team together for the weekend, and hopefully we can get momentum from there."
Bathurst has just the one match on their program for the opening weekend.
They'll take on the Dubbo Lions at the Lithgow Hockey Centre from Saturday 2.40pm.
Alexander Grant
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
