HC Melbourne is an Australian professional field hockey club based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club was established in 2019, and is one of 7 clubs to compete in Hockey Australia's premier domestic competition, Hockey One.[1]
The club unifies both men and women under one name,[2] unlike Victoria's former representation in the Australian Hockey League as the VIC Vikings (men) and VIC Vipers (women).[3][4]
HC Melbourne competed for the first time in the inaugural season of Hockey One, which was contested from late September through to mid November 2019.
History
HC Melbourne, along with six other teams, was founded on 17 April 2019 as part of Hockey Australia's development of hockey.[5]
HC Melbourne opted for a pure hockey club name, with a view to attracting the Victoria hockey public community whom CEO Andrew Skillern said "showed the rest of the country and the world what we can achieve by getting behind the home team and filling the stands as part of the 2019 FIH Pro League and we cannot wait to have the same support in the new league. The club logo includes 'M' for Melbourne.
Hockey Victoria had over 1,400 inaugural HC Melbourne members before the launch of the club. Hockey Victoria had strong aspirations to double their membership base before the season’s opening match, matching the club's bold identity.
Uniform
HC Melbourne's colours are black and white with gold. The uniform moves away from Victoria's traditional navy blue.
HC Melbourne Men's Uniform
HC Melbourne Women's Uniform
Home Stadium
HC Melbourne are based out of the State Netball and Hockey Centre in Victoria's capital city, Melbourne. The stadium has a capacity of 8,000 spectators, with 1,000 fixed seats.[6]
Throughout the Hockey One league, HC Melbourne plays a number of home games at the stadium.[7]
Teams
Men's team
The following players were named in the men's squad.[8]