The governing body for hockey in Australia, Hockey Australia has announced a multi-year partnership renewal with the Australian sports equipment and apparel company, Kookaburra.
As part of the deal, the brand’s emblem will be prominently featured on the front of the shirt for the following three years. The arrangement extends one of Australian sport’s most appealing, long-standing alliances, which dates back 30 years when Kookaburra Sport collaborated with Hockey Australia.
In addition to being the official front-of-shirt sponsor of the Australian men’s hockey team, Kookaburra Sport will also be the exclusive ball partner of Hockey Australia, its complete line of national championships, and the Hockey One League. Additionally, Kookaburra’s logo will also be featured on the front of skorts for the Australian women’s national field hockey team.
Kookaburra Sport’s dedication to the community game, in addition to its subsequent connection with Hockey Australia’s primary development pathway, the National Championships and Hookin2Hockey, guarantees that the partnership will have an impact all across the sport.
Hockey Australia CEO, David Pryles, said, “This announcement is an incredibly exciting moment for our sport. It’s fantastic to align the Kookaburras, who are one of Australia’s proudest national teams with Kookaburra Sport who are a proud Australian-owned company. Both brands have a lasting legacy synonymous with Australian sport over many decades and align through shared values, a mutual passion for hockey and the understanding of the importance of community in our game.
“I’m very much looking forward to working with Kookaburra Sport and we are excited by the opportunity for both parties to deepen connections with the community from our Hookin2Hockey clinics, through the grassroots, all the way up to our elite High-Performance programme.”
Brett Elliot, Group Managing Director at Kookaburra Sport, said,“Kookaburra Sport is proud to be associated with one of the most successful sporting bodies and teams this country has produced. As a brand we have had a long-standing relationship with both the sport itself and Hockey Australia that spans more than 30 years. Together we share brand synergies and a partnership that highlights the importance of the hockey community here in Australia from the elite level to grassroots.
“As a 5th generation Australian owned and operated family business that has been part of the fabric of Australian sport since 1890, today represents a proud moment for Kookaburra Sport, Hockey Australia, and the game itself.”
Kookaburra Sport ambassador, Tom Craig, said, “It’s been reasonably well publicised, the struggles we’ve had to get a front-of-shirt sponsor and for a team that’s as proud as the Kookaburras, who have a long and famed tradition, we’re stoked to have Kookaburra Sport backing us and even better that it’s a brand that is huge in Australian sport and a big supporter of Australian sport.”
On the development, Men’s Team Skipper, Aran Zalewski, said, “It’s great, we’re really happy to have Kookaburra Sport on our playing uniform and partnering with them is exciting for us. It’s such a natural fit, to have the Kookaburras sponsored by Kookaburra Sport as our major sponsor and we’re very excited to be representing them.”