Bathurst open women's side returns to division one for Hockey NSW Indoor State Championships

Now the Bathurst side has been given a chance in the top division the players who take to the court at Goulburn's Veolia Arena have every intention of being involved in the finals.

One of the players who will be key in that mission is Tamsin Bunt, a talent who has previously represented Australia in the indoor format.

She was excited on Wednesday when learning her side had been promoted from division two into division one after another outfit withdrew.

"Definitely the goal would to be to make the semi-finals this year," Bunt said.

"But also just to make sure we are putting in a good performance each game and win as many games as we can to not get put back into the position again of being relegated."

After struggling through the last edition of the indoor titles back in 2019 due to a number of star players being absent, Bathurst and was relegated from division one to division two.

While the bid for promotion has been achieved in unexpected fashion, Bunt feels that Bathurst deserves to be in that top division.

"We had spent the past 10 years in division one, it was just unfortunate in 2019 that we got relegated," she said.

"Definitely I think we belong in division one. We've proven that, we've won it in previous years, we've made the semis, we've been just outside the semis some years, so I really do 100 percent think that we're meant to be in division one."

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Bathurst has been placed in a pool alongside Metro South West, Illawarra South Coast, North West Sydney and New England. The top two sides in that pool qualify for semi-finals.

Bunt knows that Bathurst will face stiff opposition, but also knows her side has plenty of talent within its ranks and a coach that brings plenty of experience as well.

"Jye [Bunt] is coaching which is a huge benefit because tactically he's a good indoor coach and has played it many, many years at a high level," she said.

"Having a good indoor coach who knows those finer details with indoor, those set plays, is a huge asset for us.

"My sister Rebecca is playing and obviously she's been playing really well and playing indoor in Canberra getting ready for all the [Hockey One] Chill stuff coming up.

"We've got Reita Holmes from Canberra who has played for us before and Kelsey Webb, she played really well for us on the outdoor June long weekend - I'm pretty excited about playing with her because she's a good up and coming talent.

"So I think we'll have a pretty solid team.

"I am excited, basically all our rep hockey had been cancelled, cancelled, cancelled so this will be the first state championships since 2019."

The open women's side is one of nine Bathurst representative indoor teams who will be in action over the coming month with outfits in the under 13s, under 15s, under 18s and masters women also being formed.

It's growth Bunt is pleased to see.

"I really think indoor in Bathurst, there is a drive for it at the moment which is really amazing. You can see the work that's being put in and you can notice the work that is being put in behind the scenes to see the numbers of those in Bathurst indoor increase," Bunt said.

"We have a wave of really good young players coming through at the moment, so you have that drive of players who really want to do the training and play rep hockey. That will help the opens in the end because they will come through."

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