The Turf Project - how we did it
Written by: Louise Mann - Club Vice President
BIT OF BACKGROUND…
For many many years, signing up to play hockey for Margaret River meant you've signed up to at least two road trips to Busselton per week. I say at least two because for players that sub in or 'play up' for a second Margaret River team, it is more often 3 trips a week. On our designated club training day, we were allocated half the Busselton Turf for a few hours a week. For some families where parents and kids both played in junior and senior teams, the time spent on the training and the drive up and back could take 4 hours or more. The 2nd and 3rd trips to Busselton were for designated match times on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. That’s a lot of collective club kilometres over the years! Wally Zalewski bought a bus years ago to make things a little easier for team transport to Busselton and it's still in service today.
So I've been asked to write the story of how we came to have a training turf here in Margaret River and I find myself not writing so much about 'a training turf' but about the people in the club.
In April 2018 an old idea to have our own training turf was once again raised at the Margaret River Hockey Club Committee meeting by the then newest club volunteer member, Maxine Williams. We have Kath Altmann to thank for introducing Maxine to the club (in 2017 as the non-committee role of Junior Co-ordinator). The Altmanns were themselves a powerful force in the Hockey Club for a number of years, serving on the Committee, team managing, coaching and playing. For many who were around in the 2014 to 2017 seasons you would recall how this beautiful and generous family carried the club on their shoulders for a time. Luke played in the men's team and Asha and Chloe played in the girls' junior teams. Maxine's daughter Helena was then a new junior player at the time. After conversations on the sideline, continued to evening club meetings - with wine, cheese and some laughs (because that is how we roll). The handover from Kath to Max as Junior Co-ordinator was complete.
In September 2018, as the season drew to an end, the new committee roles were discussed. Again the idea of a training turf in Margaret River, how are we going to grow without local facilities? Time to switch it up and really start to look at Fundraising and Sponsorship. Rebecca (Beck) Gorta took over as Junior Co-ordinator and left no stone unturned for organising the junior teams, whilst Maxine moved into the fundraising role. Maxine, affectionately known as 'Max' to much of the Community. To the Committee she's 'Max Does She Ever Sleep?' To community stakeholders and businesses, it might be 'Look Out Here She Comes Max!' It's all affectionate and in good humour and she's a powerhouse of getting things done.
WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO FIRST?
Our experienced Club Secretary Jeanette Smith said the first step would be to get support from the (Augusta Margaret River Shire )Sports and Recreation Advisory Committee. How much would a turf cost? Where could a turf be located? It was looking like the idea would remain in the too hard basket for some time. I mean, where could we even begin? What should we aim to fundraise - $100,000? That's a lot of sausage sizzles and Farmers Market Breakfast Bars! It wasn't like previous Committees hadn't tried to pursue a training turf. Looking back, I realise now that Max was tapping into the collective knowledge of the long standing committee members' experience and intel, jotting down all the hurdles in the notes she was making. And then from that day forward, she pretty much just set out to jump them, one by one until there were none left.
WHERE SHALL WE GO? WHAT ABOUT THE COST?
In September 2018, the discussions began, where exactly could a hockey training turf “fit” on Gloucester Park? Colin Fox -
”Foxy” (Club President) and Max (Fundraising & Sponsorship Co-ordinator) began the discussions with Dylan Brown and Seb Miller (AMR Shire Recreation Centre). We had also started to work on the 'Money' hurdle.
Maxine's husband Craig aided and abetted Max's Turf Vision. He produced a short promotional video that we could use to rouse positive enthusiasm. Foxy, shared his passion for the club, a confident public speaker, Max followed up business opportunities and they shared the club vision to any local community and stakeholder groups willing to listen! First up - the Turf project was presented to the Margaret River Lions Club.
Watch the video: Quest for a New Turf. Team Williams were on fire!
In October 2018, we took the turf proposal to the Sport & Recreation Advisory Committee (SRAC). It was agreed by all to support a hockey training pitch on Gloucester Park (next to the Bowling Club). The proposal could now be discussed at the 14 November Augusta Margaret River Shire Ordinary Council Meeting. The Minutes confirm “the Sports and Recreation Advisory Committee in principle supports for the crushed limestone area next to the Margaret River Bowling Club to be utilised for the future development of a hockey training facility”. And there it was. The 'Where' hurdle melted away in that simple sentence. We were now further along the training turf process than ever before. I remember Foxy, saying to me back then, "I'm backing Max 100%. She is the one who is going to make this happen. There is no doubt in my mind". Foxy was right, very, right.
HOW MUCH DO WE NEED TO RAISE?
In November 2018 we hear that the presentation to the Margaret River Lions Club had been successful, The Lions would donate $20,000 to our training turf project! The MRHC owes an enormous Thank You to the Lions Club of Margaret River, especially their former Club President Brian Prendergast for believing in the Training Turf vision and being our first major community sponsor.
Foxy and Max went south and presented to the Lions of Leeuwin (Augusta). With some very positive indications that $10,000 might be pledged. We were beginning to see the picture, the club committee pulled together, moving in the same direction. Our goal, begins to appear achievable and very much in reach. But there was still more work to do and the committee was focussed.
WHAT ABOUT APPLYING FOR A GRANT?
The next step was to secure a meeting with Troy Jones from the Department of Local Government, Sport & Cultural Industries (DLGSCI). He was enthusiastic after watching the promotional video. He explained to Foxy and Max that the club could apply for a grant once club funding was secured (usually 1/3rd of the project costs). This would mean we needed to raise more and work out what the project would cost!
TIME TO VISIT THE NEIGHBOURS!
It would be important to have stakeholders collaborating to achieve this goal. We needed to ask for help. We were actively pursing all avenues, applying for grants, talking to the other sporting clubs, starting to form some great relationships, with the Bowling Club, Football and Rugby clubs, our potential new neighbours! The MRHC is truly humbled by the co-operative and generous spirit of the Gloucester Park sporting clubs to support us through this development stage of our club.
ARAN ZALEWSKI SUPPORTS OUR PROJECT
In January 2019 Max and Foxy also reached out to Aran Zalewski, Co-Captain of the Australian Men’s Hockey Team, whilst he was training in Perth. He talked about growing up in Margaret River where he started playing hockey as a junior, his plans for 2019 and his thoughts about the need for a training turf in Margaret River. This inspiring interview only reinforced what an amazing local legend and Ambassador for MRHC he is. Thank you Aran for your time and adding support to this Training Turf Project.
WHAT ABOUT THE GROUNDWORKS AND PLANNING?
We were lucky to seek local sound advice from Marc Halsall,(Halsall & Associates, Margaret River) and Calibre Group. The suggested site needed to be soil tested and with the help of our friends at Trade Hire and Margaret River Structural Engineering, we were on site collecting the data. The day went a lot smoother with our coffee break refreshments from our very supportive sponsors at Yahava Koffeworks!
In February 2019 we received our Soil survey and Geotech report from Margaret River Structural Engineering and promptly passed it over to Calibre Consulting who produced a concept plan. Work began at estimating the build costs in order to present them to the Augusta Margaret River Shire (AMRShire).
SCHOOLS ADD THEIR SUPPORT FOR FACILITIES UPGRADE
In the spirit of 'build it and they will come’ we also visited all nine regional schools in the area, which raised awareness about how significant this project was for the community. We received unanimous support for a multi-purpose facility like this in the Shire and all our letters of support would also add weight to the turf project grant applications.
In March 2019 to share our progress with potential donors, Craig (Dotch Dis Productions) produced another video! This was presented to the AMRShire Councillors.
Watch the video: Margaret River Hockey Club needs your help!
We also received confirmation from the Lions of Leeuwin (Augusta) in March 2019 with their generous donation of $10,000. A sincere thank you goes to the members of the Lions of Leeuwin (Augusta) .
In March we also met with Nola Marino, MP where we explained our project. She has been extremely supportive and suggested grant funding options to apply for, like the AusSport (Australian Sports Commission) Community Sports Infrastructure Grant.
KEEPING UP THE EFFORTS FOR FUNDRAISING…
The grass roots fundraising at club level also continued and in May 2019 the club had a team of volunteers at the Margaret River Ultra Marathon event, (assisting at the checkpoints, not running the 80km!) The Margaret River Farmers Market (running the breakfast bar) and the Margaret River Lions Shed Sale.
We also presented to the Cowaramup Lions Club (as many of our players live in Cowaramup) and the Margaret River Rotary Club. After further discussion, our request for support from the Margaret River Rotary Club had been successful, they donated $50,000! We were on the way towards that proposed fundraising target of $100,000. Crikey!
In June 2019, we continued to assist with the planning stages working with Calibre Consulting who were happy to assist a not-for-profit organisation like ourselves to ensure an efficient and cost effective build. We also presented to Bendigo Bank, Augusta, and they agreed to support us, by donating $2,500. Thank you sincerely for your support.
WOULD WE LIKE $200,000? REALLY?!!!
On 23 April 2019, Max received the best email EVER! It said this “ Thank you for applying for funding from Sport Australia’s Move It AUS – Community Sport Infrastructure grant program. Margaret River Hockey Club has been approved to receive $200,000.00
By July 2019, with the combined efforts of presentations to community groups and stakeholders along with the successful AusSport grant applications, our club had successfully fundraised $300,000 for the training turf project! We wanted to share this exciting news with our community which we did by creating another video - $300,000 raised!
Watch the video: $300,000 Raised!
WE RAN A LOCAL SURVEY - THANKS FOR THE FEEDBACK!
In August 2019 the Committee decided to organise an online survey, Club Secretary Debbie (Daisy) Storey collated the online data and the paper copy surveys collected from local schools.. Our community survey proved that a training turf facility for the hockey club to train on and share with the soccer club, rugby club and local schools, is just what Margaret River needs. Thank you to those who completed the survey, we had a great response! We had families from Augusta to Vasse completing the survey and the results were presented to the AMR Shire councillors and included in the Dept of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC) Community and Recreation Sport Facilities Fund (CRSFF ) Grant, which was applied for the following month.
The detailed plans for the project were also completed, thanks to Calibre (especially Todd Williams), their attention to detail and professionalism has been exemplary.
SEEKING SUPPORT FROM THE AUGUSTA MARGARET RIVER SHIRE COUNCIL
In September 2019, the AMR Shire Council meeting would discuss supporting the hockey club turf project and committing Shire funds (if the CRSFF grant proved successful). However, a fortnight prior to this council meeting, the projected costs for this project had been reviewed. Dylan Brown (AMRShire Recreation Manager) explained that our $300,000 fundraising might not cover the revised project budget and there was risk that our Shire would not commit the funds! Oh my goodness, after all the hurdles that had been overcome so far, was it possible the whole project was not fully funded? We had come so far!! The MRHC Committee called an urgent meeting and discussed the option of applying for a loan from the AMRShire Sport and Recreation Advisory Committee for $50,000 if required.
We also called out for help from local businesses. These amazing businesses, recognised our predicament. Without them, our project would not get over the line at this final stage. Thanks to the following Margaret River businesses, each donating $5,000 towards the project. Fusion Electrical, SportsPower, Mitre 10, Middletons Business Advisory and Priceline enabled us to raise a further $25,000. The project was still possible! The business support will be recognised with signs along the fence line.
THE STATE FUNDED CRSFF GRANT GETS SUBMITTED - ALL FINGERS CROSSED!
On Wednesday 25 September 2019, the AMR Shire councillors voted 7-0 to support the CRSFF hockey turf grant application, which secured Shire funding and a commitment of $293,500 to the project if the grant application was successful. In January 2020, Hon Mick Murray, ML visited Margaret River and announced that we had been successful with the State CRSFF grant. Finally… it’s a YES!
At last we have official confirmation that we have a fully funded project - our hockey club training turf will be constructed! What a totally crazy 17 months it had been since Max and Foxy approached Dylan and Seb at the Shire to ask 'if, hypothetically speaking, we were to build a Hockey Training Turf, where would it go?' With the assistance of all the stakeholders, community groups, sponsors and responders to surveys and interviewees above, we had succeeded. This is down to the cooperative spirit of people in our Community.
Watch the video: We can build our training turf! Thank you!
Read in Margaret River Mail - Margaret River brings hockey home with final funding announcement
media statement released by Hon Mick Murray MLA
• Turf project also discussed in a radio interview – have a listen here.
CONSTRUCTION TO BEGIN ON SITE - HOPEFULLY!
On Thursday 26 November WML Consulting Engineers were on site to provide the AMRShire with a more detailed Geotechnical survey of the area. They worked alongside Urbanise WA Engineering Solutions (based in Margaret River) to finalise the project planning details ready to advertise the tender. It was full steam ahead!
Then, we were delivered an astonishing blow.! With more details from WML, the site surveys for the chosen site were suggesting too many unknowns which would cause the groundworks project costs to escalate further. Emergency meetings were called and it was agreed that we had to find an alternative site on Gloucester Park - fast! Another location was identified and work began on adapting the plans, focusing on an area adjacent to the Bowling club, where presently some old agricultural sheds were located.
CONSTRUCTION OF HOCKEY TRAINING COMPLEX BEGINS
The TENDER FOR RFT 06-21 - Construction of Hockey Training Complex and Associated Infrastructure was finally advertised. The appointed contractor for the turf project was IRP (WA) Ltd.
By July 2021 there was some action on site, the old agricultural sheds were removed. Finally after planning updates, site relocation, and COVID-19 lock-downs. We were looking forward to seeing construction on site begin. By September 2021 the hockey turf project was taking shape, along with much need to upgrade the Gloucester Park road and drainage systems. Hockey is moving into town!
By April 2022 the groundwork construction was in the final stages. The new LED light poles were erected and tested and the fencing contractors were onsite. The roads, paths and drainage channels were also in the final stages of construction. Finally it was time for Sports and Rec Surfaces to arrive on site and lay the Tiger Turf - Eve Pro turf product - we absolutely could not wait! Such an exciting time and so many Hockey Club members were doing drive-bys and watching as this hallowed ground took shape.
In the last week of May 2022, there was a final frenzy as we got the turf ready to train on. We had received an old damaged set of goals that had been kindly donated by Busselton Hockey Association. Our team of volunteers collected, straightened and re-painted the goals. The new high protection nets for behind the goals were then set up, the remaining turf off-cuts were removed from the side of the turf and we were ready, (with 4 minutes to spare before scheduled training!) The first club training session was on Tuesday the 31st of May at 4.00 pm! Talk about coming down to the wire!
TURF OFFICAL OPENING NIGHT PLANNED…
And the final task - a date was set for Friday 10 June for our official turf opening ceremony. Regrettably we have had to defer the opening celebrations! Australian Kookaburra Captain and Officially World's Best Male Hockey Player for the last 3 years was set to bring some of his fellow Kookaburra team mates to open the Margaret River Hockey Club Turf for us, but COVID struck Aran and a few of the team so we've postponed the official opening until after the Commonwealth Games. (Date to be confirmed at time of writing).
LET’S BRING HOC.... NO WAIT! - HOCKEY IS HOME IN MARGARET RIVER!
We've brought Hockey Home to Margaret River.
Well done to the MRHC committees 2018 - 2022 - Job done!
Before I sign off, it should be noted that while all this Training Turf Project work was being done, the Hockey Club continued to run with the help of a whole host of committed and hardworking volunteers including serving Committee Members, Co-ordinators, Coaches, Team Managers and those willing to do fundraising and all the usual tasks that are needed to run a successful sporting club.
We thank all those volunteers, past, present and future, who continue to help the MRHC grow and thrive.
You're all magnificent humans. 💚👍😀
Louise Mann
Vice President. (2020-2022)
Margaret River Hockey Club
