In 1979 with the completion of the Perth Hockey Stadium (then the Commonwealth Hockey Stadium) a group of age-ing hockey players got together and decided to run an interstate hockey carnival so over 40’s could get a chance to play on the new artificial surface. Invitations where sent out to all states and the carnival was held in 1980 with WA, Victoria, NSW, SA, Queensland and WA Country taking part.
WA Country were invited because Harold Smith who played for Australia in the early 50’s lived in Albany and it was decided to invite the country boys to take part with Harold as the Captain/Coach. The Convenor of Country Hockey was Kevin Warnes and he sent out notices to all the country associations asking for interested players to nominate. Sixteen nominations were received and Wally Scott was approached to be the manager. Wally was going on an extended holiday and suggested that David Horsley who had nominated and was the President of the Eastern Goldfields Men’s Hockey Association would be the man for the job.
Kevin Warnes wrote a letter to David advising him of his appointment and supplying the list of sixteen names with contact details. WA Country hockey veterans was up and running!
The carnival was such a success that the Captains and Managers decided to hold another one in 1981, also in Perth as this was the only artificial turf in Australia. With the construction of the Melbourne Stadium the carnival moved to Victoria in 1982 and 1983. From that point it was decided to rotate around the States and the carnival developed into a full scale National Championship. WA Country have participated in every carnival/championship and now have teams in every State age division. That is, over 35’s/40’s/45’s/50’s/55’s/60’s/65’s/70s and 75s.
WA Country are now recognized by the Australian Veterans Hockey Council as an entity in its own right and have the same rights as the other States. In 2002 WA Country ran the Championships in Bunbury and Busselton and again in 2010 and 2019.
WA Country have made a huge contribution to the Australian Veterans Hockey Council since 1980 in the fields of administration, selecting and managing Australian Teams and providing players, umpires and medical support staff. The AVHC has five life members and three of those are from WA Country. They are Ted Jones, Bill Baldwin and David Horsley.
The WA Country Masters Hockey Association has gone from strength to strength and is the envy of many other States.