Back in 1991, a committee had a vision to hold a fun hockey carnival in Bunbury and invite other towns to compete.
Twenty-four teams attended the first tournament and, from there, the number of teams grew each year.
Nearly 30 years on, Bunbury - with its 14 grass fields and two turf areas - hosts arguably the biggest carnival in the Southern Hemisphere, over the WA Day long weekend.
In 2019, 138 teams (almost 1800 players) took part in 470 games, across 12 divisions, over three days. Teams came from as far as Esperance to attend.
The South West Smarter Than Smoking Junior Championships allows age groups 5/6, 7/8, and 9/10 to enter championship divisions as well as carnival divisions.
Known for its festival vibe with clubs camping out, face paint, glitter, music boomboxes playing all over the stadium, and team chants, it's the biggest weekend on the WA junior calendar.
Players get to mingle with Kookaburras and Hockeyroos. This year, they met Jamie Dwyer and Blake Govers, updated their gear (thanks to the tent-land of hockey supplies on sale), and enjoyed the selection of food trucks.
Bunbury entered 12 teams, with its Year 5/6 girls and 9/10 boys championship teams making it through to their grand finals.
Bunbury's 5/6 girls had a tight grand final against the Wasps, with the score at full time being 1-1.
With the younger teams not playing out strokes, gold went to the Wasps who were higher on the ladder. Bunbury was awarded the silver.
The young Bunbury girls delighted spectators with their team play and sharing of the ball, as well as their face paint and hair ribbons.
The big game of the day was the 9/10 boys championship decider between Bunbury and UWA. The large crowd got to witness a highly-skilled game from both teams.
Short corners were saved at both ends of the field and neither team could put away a goal. It was 0-0 at the final siren.
Strokes were automatically put into play, with both teams getting three in after the first round.
Going to sudden death, both teams gave the crowd an exciting battle with UWA finally coming out on top, 7-6, and claiming gold.
Bunbury's Captain Jaxon Browne was a solid leader for his team, goalkeeper Darcy Eagles saved plenty of strokes and short corners, and Noah Cartledge was awarded player of the match.
In Round Four of the South West Hockey League - Men's competition, Boyanup defeated Marist 1-0, Towns/South toppled Associates 5-4, and Exies and Wests played out a 1-1 draw.
Marist's Women's side took down Towns/South 1-0, Boyanup edged out Associates 1-0, and Exies scored two goals to one against Capel.
After a much-needed bye, the South West Strikers will take on Rockingham on Round 10 this weekend.
Read more:
