Mark Bridge to make Warrnambool and District hockey comeback

In short, they expect it to be brief.

“That is how much confidence they all have in me,” Bridge said of his friends’ friendly ribbing.

Bridge, 42, will don the goal keeper’s attire for the first time in 14 years as part of Warrnambool and District Hockey Association’s senior South West Games competition this weekend.

It will mark his first competitive match for his home club in 22 seasons.

Bridge is unsure how many games he’ll play but is expecting to pull up sore.

“Once you put the gear on you sort of think you’re as good as you used to be so you have a fair crack,” he said.

“I haven’t made the phone call to the chiropractor yet but we’ll get there.

“It should be fun anyway – that’s the point of the whole weekend.”

Bridge is excited to return to the field – even if it’s only for a cameo appearance.

“I had knee issues and had a baby at the time and thought I’d rather be rolling around on the ground with him than struggling to get off the ground playing hockey,” he said of his decision to step away from the sport.

“So I pulled the stumps up and sold the gear and umpired and coached in Melbourne.”

Bridge is currently involved with Warrnambool and District association as a goal keeping coach.

His two sons, Jayden, 14, and Callum, 12, both play.

Callum has followed his dad’s footsteps and become a goalie.

Bridge said goal keeping was a difficult position to master.

“It is the one area of the sport that is just starting to be recognised as a legitimate part of the field,” he said.

“It used to just be ‘or you’re no good, we just need someone to stand there and get in the way’.

“That is the easy concept but I’d like to think there is a fair bit more involved than that.”

The senior tournament is the last of three Warrnambool and District scheduled as part of the annual South West Games competition, which encourages participation across minor sports.

“We’ve got 10 teams coming down from South Australia, Melbourne, Portland and we’ve got Warrnambool people as well, so it’s just a bit of a fun tournament,” Bridge said. 

“Last weekend we had the under 15s and teams from Ballarat, Portland and Camperdown came down for that, so that was a fantastic day.

“And the weekend before that we had the under 13s.”