Canberra offers Hockeyroos and Kookaburras 'true home' in their bid for Hockey Australia's centre of excellence

Canberra is one of three shortlisted regions that will pitch their vision for the sport to Hockey Australia officials on Thursday.

The presentation in Sydney will provide Hockey ACT chief executive Rob Sheekey and his team one final chance to prove Canberra's bid is more compelling than Victoria and Western Australia.

Sheekey is confident the bid will differentiate the region from their rivals by offering Hockey Australia a true home in the capital.

Perth has been home to the high-performance program since 1984 but the agreement with the Western Australia government expires at the end of 2024.

Should the ACT be successful, the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras will relocate to Canberra following the Paris Olympics.

"We will know one way or another before Christmas this year. So we aren't too far away and we should know the outcome within the next two months, which is exciting," Sheekey said.

"We are offering them a true home, whereas the other bids will have shared infrastructure, we want to give them their own [training] infrastructure where they wouldn't have to share.

"But I guess the best part of this is what a great selling point Canberra itself offers. There's great benefits of living in this community, very limited traffic, easy to get around, great education institutions, and tremendous employment opportunities here."

The Canberra Times understands the standalone training facility being floated as part of the capital's bid would be at the AIS. While international games for the two senior national teams could be played at the National Hockey Centre in Lyneham when required.

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An underutilised synthetic soccer field at the Bruce site could be the perfect place for the teams to set up base, with administration offices and high-performance sports science resources already nearby.

The three shortlisted regions were selected after an initial open tender process that outlined a list of requirements. Thursday's presentation requires the finalists to provide firm plans on how those would be met.

A big requirement includes bringing Hockey Australia's administration offices in Melbourne, and the high-performance program in Perth, together.

Hockey ACT has teamed up with the ACT government and the AIS to build a case for the capital and do just that.

Sheekey said they were looking to bring them together in one location, and pointed to Canberra's location as an advantage for allowing east coast players to return home more frequently.

The finer details of the bid will remain under wraps until after the process has concluded.

"We think the program has got a lot of benefits if it was to be brought here to Canberra," he said.

"It brings over 100 jobs, which is excellent for the ACT and has some flow-on effects, and then has some high-performance benefits for Hockey ACT as an organisation, which we're really excited about.

"We'll be able to share more details around the funding model if and when we're successful, but we are working with the AIS and the ACT government on our bid."

The Canberra bid will face stiff competition from Western Australia and Victoria who have more cash to splash on sports.

The Victorian government is keen to have teams based in the state in the build up to the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Hockey Queensland and Hockey NSW also submitted expressions of interest however they did not make the shortlist.

The developments come as the Canberra Chill prepare to turn out for their third game of the national hockey season.

The men and women's sides will take on the Tassie Tigers in Hobart.

The Canberra men are looking to build on last week's impressive 4-0 victory over HC Melbourne at the National Hockey Centre.

Aidan Dooley scored a double in the win, while James Day and Ben Staines also found the back of the net.

Tasmania have also recorded one victory and one loss, including a resounding 5-0 triumph over Adelaide last week.

After making a winning start to the year, the Canberra women suffered a 2-0 loss to HC Melbourne last week.

The Tigers are in a similar position, having defeated Brisbane in a shootout before falling to Adelaide 2-0 in their most recent match.

With just six rounds in the competition, both Canberra teams are desperate to climb up the ladder and into the top four.

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