Hockey Victoria to make amendments to penalty corner

President of WestVic Hockey Mark Churcher said Hockey Victoria was looking at modifying rules around the penalty corner if a season gets up and running.

The amendments would restrict defending players from wearing protective face masks while an attacking player took a power shot on goal.

Churcher said the rule would likely be modified to contain the spread of germs between players.

"The protective gear they wear when we have a penalty corner are communal and now they can't be," he said.

"Those masks will need to be sanitised and I believe Hockey Victoria is looking at modifying the rules to take that process out."

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Last week the club resumed training at the Ballarat Hockey Centre under strict government guidelines.

Squads came onto the pitch at staggered times and were split at either end of the field. A barrier was erected so players couldn't cross over and a volunteer was appointed to handle all equipment.

Churcher said the guidelines had been an added challenge.

"Theoretically hockey is a non-contact sport," he said.

"But there is body-to-body contact and it's a seriously aerobically demanding sport.

"They run around and sweat, so I'm not sure what restrictions will be in place around that when play starts up."

Churcher said rules around team travel presented another issue. He said players might be forced to drive to away games if restrictions around travel aren't lifted.

"Most of our matches are in Melbourne and if we put 20 players on a 20-seater bus we would breach social distancing laws," he said.

Adding to the difficulty, a lack of crowds might see the club lose up to 10 per cent of its annual revenue. However because hockey is an amateur sport, it doesn't have to pay players.

"We run a canteen, barbecue and often a function afterwards," Churcher said.

"All that could be dead in the water and that's a modest chunk of our annual income."

Churcher said Hockey Victoria would look to recommence competition sometime in June or July depending on government restrictions.

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