Govers leads push for Kookaburras Illawarra base

Currently based in Perth, the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras are set to remain there until the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The teams' future beyond that point remains unclear, with Hockey Australia exploring opportunities to shift to the east coast.

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Govers has thoroughly enjoyed living in Perth but said there should be one leading contender if the operation was to move east.

"Personally, I think the program should either be in Wollongong or Perth," Govers said.

"I'm not sure if there's enough pull for Illawarra businesses to get behind it. We have pretty good facilities already, so it wouldn't take too much to improve them. As long as we're in Perth or Wollongong, I'm happy."

The Perth base poses a number of advantages and disadvantages for Australia's hockey teams.

From a high-performance perspective, it is perfect. The players are bunkered down away from the spotlight of Sydney and Melbourne, allowing coaches to focus on achieving results on the field.

The situation is less ideal commercially, with corporate support and media attention hard to come by in Western Australia.

Mental health concerns associated with removing young athletes from support networks have also been raised, particularly in light of revelations of a toxic culture within the Hockeyroos setup.

A shift to Wollongong would resolve a number of these issues.

Players would remain close to family in Sydney and Melbourne, while the region offers a similar lifestyle to Perth.

In a further boost for the Illawarra, local hockey officials recently received a NSW government grant to upgrade the turf and lighting at Illawarra Hockey Centre.

"There is a tender process Hockey Australia go through and it looks like they're preparing to go through that again," Illawarra South Coast Hockey chair Maree Lackemby said.

"At the moment, it is too far out for us to discuss what that process would involve. We're not sure if they will go to a regional area.

"Moving the program to Wollongong, or even Sydney, would be very beneficial for hockey in this region. At the moment, the Australian players are spread across the Perth competition.

"A lot of our better players play down here and also in Sydney. The Australian players would raise the standard in Sydney and that would raise the standard down here."

While Govers has made a new home in Perth, fellow Kookaburra Flynn Ogilvie found the shift west more difficult.

The midfielder is considering the prospect of splitting time between WA and Wollongong in order to extend his career as he turns his attention to life after hockey.

Ogilvie concedes he will likely be retired after the Paris Games, but said an Illawarra-based program would make that transition much simpler.

"We're locked into Perth until 2024, but after that I'm not too sure where we'll be," Ogilvie said. "I personally wouldn't be against a move, it means we can move closer to home.

"In the end it depends what's best for the program and where the best training location would be."

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