1970’s
The 1970’s was a big decade for the Seahawks (Formally known as Caloundra Seahawks Hockey Club). In 1973 the club was formed and in 1974 the first club delegates were elected. Club colours were green white and red with one female team playing at fields in Nambour. By 1975, games were now played at Caloundra High School with membership fees costing $2.00 for working girls and $1.50 for school students with a Saturday game fee of 40 cents per player. 1976 saw our first mens team and 1977 saw our first junior teams. In 1978 the club gained their first training field, assisting in enhancing the growth of its member base. 1979 saw the change of club colours to black and yellow and the hosting of a 7-a-side twilight competition.
1980’s
In 1980 an interschool competition was formed and the growth of the club now included mens, womens, U16 boys and girls and four primary school teams. The twilight competiton was strong with 6 mixed teams involved. Games were played at Caloundra, Nambour and finals at Ballinger Park. 1982 saw the growth continue at Caloundra and the transition to Ballinger Park began. By 1984 the mens and womens teams played at Ballinger Park, however Caloundra pulled out of the junior competition at Ballinger as a result of a unanimous decision by parents due to the travel time. By 1985 player numbers had dropped and it was no longer sustainable to enter teams into the SCHA competition and the club folded.
1990’s
After 6 years without a hockey club, in 1990 Helen Caines instigated the reformation of the club. The previous club colours of black and yellow were disallowed – due to being the Sunshine Coast colours and new colours were decided on, Blue and Maroon, reflective of State of Origin. The previously allocated training grounds were now utilised by other sports, but training continued at the rugby league club in Caloundra. In 1991 one womens team was formed and sponsored by the Anchorage Motel, it was a huge year of fundraising and membership was taken seriously, with fines given for not attending training sessions. The club continued to grow, by 1993 there was two womens teams and one mens team – the women made it to the preliminary final and the men the grand final! 1994 saw the re-establishment of the junior competition, enough to enter 3 junior teams (U11, U13 boys and U16 boys) where they trained at Currimundi and played at Ballinger. In 1995 the council approved the Seahawks to amalgamate with the Caloundra Cricket club for the use of facilities and fields for training. They received a large grant ($14,200) to establish lighting at the facility. The senior competition was highly successful, the men won the grand final and the women played off for gold. 1996 and 1997 saw the mens competition drop off again, however the womens and junior competition continued to grow, resulting in the first time a junior team (U16 Boys) making the finals series. 1998 saw a mens team returnand the implementation of a Minkey (from 3 years old) program, the men, in strong form, made the finals . In 1999 the club became incorporated and the member growth continued with three womens teams, one mens team and four junior teams, it was hugely successful with the U13 girls and Div 2 women winning the premiership and the Div 2 men being awarded minor premiers.
2000’s
The year 2000 was HUGE for Sunny Coast Hockey and the 1.2 million dollar construction of the synthetic surface and clubhouse at Ballinger Park, Buderim was completed. In 2001 for the first time in history the club fielded a full compliment of teams – Div 1 and 2 mens and womens, U16 and U13 girls and boys and 2 U11 mixed teams with the Div 2 men finishing as premiers. 2002 and 2003 saw stabilisation in the club with the encouragement and commitment of volunteers and committee roles, the club secured Government and Council grants to assist with funding of after school programs and goal keeping equipment. In 2003 the Div 1 men won the Presidents Cup and runner-up, Div 1 women were runner-up, whilst the U16 girls made it to the semi-finals. In 2004 the Div 1 men and U16 girls both won the Premiership and Div 3 women were minor premiers. In 2005, the Div 3 women came back with a vengance and won the Premiership! Caloundra RSL became a major sponsor in 2006 with three years of funding commitment, setting up the clubs growth into the next decade. Through work with the Caloundra Shire Council, Caloundra Seahawks were dedicated three hockey fields at Meridan as part of a boost for hockey and development of the Merdian Recreation Centre. As a result of the major sponsorship by the RSL, a sign-on fair was conducted in 2007 resulting in 25 new player sign-ups – 18 of which were juniors! This meant that a full compliment of senior and junior teams was submitted to the Sunshine Coast junior competition, of which five of the teams participated in finals. 2008 saw the Minkey program transition to the Nationally recognised Hook in 2 Hockey Program, this aimed to assist the junior competition development and engage older juniors into the coaching space. We were also successful in a Government Grant of $30,000 which allowed the purchase of goals and equipment for training sessions. 2009 had huge growth, 6 senior teams and 3 junior teams all making the play-offs.
2010’s
2010 showed continued strength with six senior and six junior teams, eight playing off in finals and the Div 1 women taking out the Premiership, After continued hard work with Caloundra Shire Council, in 2011 the Seahawks had their own home ground at Meridan Sports Complex, sharing the facilities with Caloundra Football Club. The junior girls progressed with strength and the J2 and J3 girls took out the Premierhip. A varying competition this year meant that we were unable to field a mens Div 1 team, resulting in our top players playing for Nambour. 2012 the Seahawks were named the biggest club on the Sunshine Coast, fielding eight senior teams and 7 junior teams, it saw the return of our Div 1 Mens side and the J3 Girls take out the Premiership. Wet weather impacted the fixtures significantly across 2012 and 2013 resulting in grass and at times turf games being affected nearly every week! 2013 brought a massive milestone, 20 Years of Seahawks Juniors! A feat that couldn’t have been possible without all the time, effort, expertise and knowedge from our coaches, managers and committee. We continued our after school program, running a hockey skills program that continued to attract a lot of interest. Our annual camping trip entered its 4th consecutive year and remained a talking point throughout the season. This season wasn’t without heartbreak though, sadly in July we lost one of our young true Seahawks, Dean Maynard, losing his battle with bowel cancer. Dean had been with the club since he was a young boy and his mother Jackie is a life member, his love and joy for hockey will never be forgotten and he will be forever missed. Our love and support are with his wife Abby and his family Jackie, Wayne and Ashleigh. Rest In Peace Deano. Another tough year in the mens division, in 2014 we were unable to field a Div 1 mens side, however it resulted in the Div 2 mens side fielding a strong team with Div 2 and 3 making the Grand Final. The national teams were a plenty with year, Seahawks players and umpires representing at National level. The next few years had the Seahawks representing strong through their H2H program at Meridan, training programs at Meridan and Ballinger, umpire growth and achievements all the way to U21 National Level. We fielded strong numbers in the Junior and Senior competions over the next few years, the teams remained strong with plenty of respresentation in the finals series.
2020’s
The early 2020’s has seen a significant downturn in junior numbers across the Sunshine Coast, subsequently affecting Seahawks Junior registrations. We submitted teams in many junior divisions, often merging with other clubs, but the girls competition was significantly affected. In 2020, two of our players were awarded SCHA player of the year! 2020-2023 we drove a junior development program and this developed the skills and ambitions of our young players. Obviously, we can’t omit talking about the Big-C that was COVID, how fortunate we are to live, work and play in QLD, although somewhat affected through restrictions, rules and regulations, we were able to see all of our seasons fixtures go ahead. This was the likely catalyst to the centralisation of hockey at Ballinger, it subsequently saw the decrease in our use of the Meridan facilites, by 2022 the allocated hockey fields were not kept to standards for training and the convenience for parents to have children at Ballinger also was preferred. The future is looking bright for the men’s division, in 2021, all our junior boys teams made the grand final. Juniors were the real winners in 2022 where our U15 boys and U13 girls won the premiership and U13 boys and U18 boys making the grand final. The Div 1 men continued their strength with finals series representation and although they haven’t secured the trophy, after a long wait, the Div 2 and 3 men both took out the Premiership in 2023. The women’s team have continued their rebuild over these early years and are strong competition at SCHA.