October 2020
What we did
Confronted with a wholesale discontinuation of our hockey season only three days before it was due to commence, we pivoted to retain engagement and provide a community initiative for our players and families.
We initiated The Mosman Hockey Challenge, which had the premise that we would collectively make our way on a virtual trip around Australia. The challenge required participants to log their training time, with each minute of exercise equating to 150 metres of distance traveled.
About a week after lock-down commenced we started the Challenge. We had a. few hundred participants register and our virtual journey commenced.
In addition to the training and travel we supported the hockey community through this channel by providing some training and practice tips. These were enthusiastically followed by kids who now could only practice on their own or with parents.
The virtual journey took 47 days – there was a total of over 120,000 minutes logged and the ‘distance’ of our journey traveled equated to 17,475km.
Every week we held Zoom catch-ups for the age group squads and as part of the challenge we staged bake-offs and other fun tasks that engaged the teams.
The project enabled our community to show teamwork, spirit, fun and effort, even when all sport was cancelled.
Why we did it
The initiative was adopted because of COVID, but the underlying need for it was to fulfill a purpose that always existed. The hockey club supports more than 200 junior players. Many of these players have elite sport aspirations, but the overwhelming majority simply participate in hockey for the wholesome outcomes of teamwork, sense of community, fitness and friendship.
The onset of COVID threatened to undermine these values and the Mosman Hockey Challenge simply provided a focal point for the Club community to sustain and strengthen their ties.
This need was understood right at the onset of lockdown, and experiences bore out the importance of the program. A parent, who was left to manage her two boys after her husband was forced to travel interstate to retain employment, emotionally related how the program had occupied her sons daily for seven straight weeks and was, in her view, essential to their mental health and well-being.
What was the result
The most satisfying and meaningful feedback after from the program came from the players and parents themselves, who enjoyed the engagement and fun it offered. The Club recommenced training immediately after the restrictions were lifted, which was several weeks before other Clubs. The enthusiasm for hockey and the genuine affection and friendships the players had for each other after the shared experience was palpable.
Several quantitative metrics illustrate the great success of the program:
- The participants logged 120,542 minutes (with many continuing the habit weeks after the 117,000 target was met)
- 1567 sessions of exercise were logged by 200+ participants
- 775 unique users visited the site in 2408 unique sessions
- There were 6788 pageviews
- We have gained 40+ new members since the recommencement of the hockey season
- A large amount of images and videos were shared on social media, these were collated in a unique video at the conclusion of the event: https://www.mosmanhockeychallenge.com/post/we-made-it
During our circumnavigation we contacted some clubs and associations. This lead us to discuss forming a sister-club arrangement with Douglas Hockey Association in Mossman, Queensland. Post-COVID, this will be an amazing opportunity for the youth of both organisations.
