Round 16 of the Premier League Hockey season will celebrate SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY Round, shining a light on the importance of positive mental health and the role sporting clubs can play in supporting their communities.
Hockey Tasmania CEO Damian Smith said the round provided an important opportunity to use hockey as a platform to raise awareness and encourage meaningful conversations.
“We are incredibly proud to partner with SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY and excited to once again stage this important round,” Smith said.
“Events like this allow us to promote positive mental health, encourage open conversations and remind everyone across our hockey community that it is okay to ask for help.
“We hope the round brings our hockey community together, raises awareness of this vital message and helps create conversations that continue well beyond the final whistle.”
SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY is dedicated to promoting positive mental health and preventing suicide by encouraging open conversations and reminding Tasmanians that it is okay to ask for help.
Building on the success of last year’s Stay ChatTY Round, clubs will once again come together throughout the weekend to support the initiative. The round highlights the important role community sport can play in creating supportive, connected environments where conversations about mental health are welcomed.
“Sport has an incredible ability to bring people together, and that’s exactly why partnerships like this are so important,” SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY Sports Program Project Officer Tom Mullane-Grant said.
“Last year’s statewide Stay ChatTY Round showed the impact hockey can have when clubs across Tasmania unite behind a shared message. It’s encouraging to see Hockey Tasmania continue to build on that commitment by creating environments where players, volunteers, officials and supporters feel comfortable checking in with each other and starting conversations about mental health.
“You might have a teammate say, ‘We haven’t heard from this person in a little while. Let’s reach out and bring them back into the fold because they might be struggling.’ That is a really important part of the role sport can play in supporting mental health.
"We talk about goal assists, well let's talk about assisting someone when they are down and really struggling, how can we do tha?.”
“Mental health is something that affects all of us, both on and off the field. If this round encourages even one person to reach out, ask how someone is going or realise they don’t have to face challenges alone, then it’s making a real difference.”
The centrepiece of the round will be the annual SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY Cup between Canterbury and OHA, decided by the combined aggregate score across the clubs’ Women’s and Men’s Premier League matches.
This year marks the eighth edition of the trophy, which has become an important annual fixture on the Premier League calendar.
Canterbury are the current holders after securing a thrilling 4–3 aggregate victory last year. The Lions opened the contest with a 2–1 win in the Women’s Premier League match before a 2–2 draw in the Men’s clash sealed the trophy.
Each match will also feature an individual award recognising the player who best exemplifies the values of courage and resilience, skill and sportsmanship. The award will acknowledge players who demonstrate grit, determination and a positive attitude when faced with challenges; display strength on the ball, speed, agility, a strong work ethic and a consistent variety of skills; and compete with humility, fairness and respect while remaining positive and supportive of teammates and opponents.
Canterbury Men’s captain Brad Kitto said sporting clubs could play an enormous role in supporting positive mental health.
“If people are feeling flat or down, it’s really important to create a space where conversations are welcomed and encouraged, not viewed as a sign of weakness, but as a sign of strength,” Kitto said.
“It’s so important that we create safe spaces for those conversations, and SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY Round provides a powerful platform to start more of them. If it starts even one conversation within our group or across the wider hockey community, then it has served its purpose.”
On the pitch, the Men’s Premier League clash will be crucial in the battle for fourth place and the final spot in the finals. Canterbury currently occupy fourth, with Derwent just one point behind and holding a game in hand. OHA are five points further adrift, but a victory would cut the gap to just two.
The Ships will take confidence from the teams’ most recent meeting, when they defeated Canterbury 4–1 in Round 11 after the Lions had won the opening two encounters of the season.
In the women’s clash, OHA will enter as strong favourites. Sitting second on the ladder, the Ships are locked in a tight three-way battle with North West Graduates and DiamondBacks for the minor premiership and have won all three meetings with Canterbury this season.
The Lions occupy fifth place, four points behind University in the race for the final finals position. With six games remaining, Canterbury know they will likely need to produce an upset during the final quarter of the season if they are to return to the finals after reaching the preliminary final in 2025.
