Maitland Hockey administrator and coach Ros Sherlock wins Volunteer of the Year Award

"I was informed by Maitland Hockey at the last meeting that they had nominated me and I then received an email from NSW saying I was a finalist and luckily this year the awards were in Newcastle," Ms Sherlock said.

"Two hundred nominations this year from across the state...every volunteer is deserving no matter what they do, it's really appreciated."

Ms Sherlock has had a 30-year association with hockey in Maitland in a variety of roles, firstly as a player and umpire then as president and treasurer.

Over the years she has also coached junior teams and managed representative sides.

"I was working in Newcastle and one of the ladies there said come and play hockey in Maitland and it wasn't long after that I mentioned I umpired as well and they said you could be umpire's convener," she said.

Ms Sherlock said having enough volunteers is a challenge for every organisation but there are things that can help make it easier.

"That dip into volunteering, they don't want to be doing all the different jobs and sometimes it's a bit overwhelming," she said.

"It's bringing them in and getting people to do something little to start with on a more relaxed basis, not giving them a name for that particular job and saying you're that for life...not scaring them off."

When Ms Sherlock first became involved with hockey in Maitland it was on Saturday afternoon on the grass at Maitland Park.

Now on artificial turf, Ms Sherlock has no plans in slowing down and is gearing up for another season.

"We're starting up our season at the moment, we have come and try days...and then we're moving on to our competition," she said.

"I think the women start on March 25 and we've had quite a bit of interest from women that are coming into the area or women who are coming back into the sport."

"It's a sport of longevity and a sport that caters for all ages."

"We often find as younger ones move away during their late teens to go to uni or whatever they will often come back to the sport either after they have started working or after they've had a family."