Central Great Southern and North Coast Raiders take home spoils in annual Great Southern Hockey Carnival

Central Great Southern and North Coast Raiders walked away with the spoils from the annual Great Southern Hockey Carnival played in Mt Barker at the weekend. Hundreds of players hit the turf in Mt Barker for the 2023 edition of the popular carnival that is rotated between towns around the south of WA. Mt Barker Hockey Club hosted the event, with games played at Sounness Park on both the turf pitch and grass of the cricket oval and some other matches were played on grass at Frost Park. A total of 20 teams took part, 14 men’s sides across two pools while six women’s teams also competed. North Coast Raiders and Mt Barker squared off in both men’s playoffs to determine who advanced to the grand final. North Coast Raiders Green and North Coast Raiders Black progressed to the decider and it was North Coast Raiders Green that came away with the men’s title after a 4-2 triumph. After the qualifying games there was a straight grand final for the women’s title and it was an all Central Great Southern affair. Central Great Southern Pink Bits defeated Central Great Southern in the decider 3-2. After the carnival Allstars were picked for both men and women from performances across the two days. Tameka Brown, part of the Mt Barker organising committee, said it was a wonderful weekend of hockey. “It was a great weekend and we had the best weather Mt Barker could have produced at this time of year,” Brown said. “The atmosphere seemed good and it’s a great social catch up as most people come to the carnival each year. “Everyone enjoyed the carnival dinner on the Saturday night and the whole weekend was all put together by a volunteer committee.” Teams from Esperance, Eastern Districts, Perth, Collie, Warren, Katanning, Tambellup, Kojonup, Mt Barker and York took part. The carnival will move to Esperance next year.