A central Queensland community has donated thousands of dollars worth of food to hockey teams from developing countries.

Key points: Pacific nations teams have come to Rockhampton for the Hockey 5s tournament

Pacific nations teams have come to Rockhampton for the Hockey 5s tournament Event volunteers noticed teams were not eating and learned they were struggling to buy food

Event volunteers noticed teams were not eating and learned they were struggling to buy food A call-out for donations has resulted in a huge amount of food being given to the visiting teams

National hockey teams from the Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Papua New Guinea are competing in the Oceania Hockey Cup's Hockey Fives tournament in Rockhampton.

It is one of the only international hockey competitions these countries can qualify to attend which helps build their score in the world rankings.

But the financial burden of travel and equipment for these teams holds them back.

Food donation drive started by volunteers

Samoa, Fiji, and Vanuatu were invited to compete at this year's event but could not afford to attend, and now teams that did get here have found they are struggling to buy food.

"We noticed they hadn't had anything to eat about lunch time," hockey volunteer Wendy Kemp said.

"So we approached the coaches and discovered that due to financial issues, the young ones were very limited in the food they had while here in Australia."

Rockhampton hockey volunteers put out a call to local families and were inundated with donations. ( ABC Capricornia: Rachel McGhee )

Ms Kemp, along with other Rockhampton Hockey volunteers, started a food donation drive to help support the teams.

"We put out a call to the families of Rocky hockey and we've been inundated with food," she said.

"We've had fruit, vegetables, bread, and some meat so we're providing them with the best that we can."

Ms Kemp said the teams' situation opened their eyes to the challenges faced by developing countries when trying to send teams to participate in sport.

"To realise these kids were here with limited food to supply them when they're out here playing in the heat [was] really eye opening," she said.

Teams 'humbled' by local support

Indere Howell, coach and captain of the Solomon Islands women's team, said the teams were incredibly grateful for the support from the Rockhampton community.

"There's been people coming around and they've seen that we need help. We're very humble and thankful for that," she said.

Indere Howell said most of the players are students who have sacrificed a lot to get to Rockhampton. ( ABC Capricornia: Russel Talbot )

Ms Howell said teams had sacrificed a lot to be involved in the competition and were honoured to be there.

"It's really expensive to travel and back home, as a developing country, you don't have access to a good amount of money," she explained.

"Most of us are students [and] some of them have sacrificed so much time and effort.

"They have pulled out money out of their own pockets to be here and that's because they love hockey and they really want to grow in our game and sport."

Offering opportunity to developing nations

Hockey Fives is a short format game of the sport, played by a team of five on a smaller field.

Oceania Hockey Cup secretary Bob Claxton (left) and president David Peebles. ( ABC Capricornia: Rachel McGhee )

It was created by the International Hockey Federation to give players from developing countries — who may not have a full-sized field or enough players — the opportunity to compete in major tournaments.

"They only have to bring nine players not 18 [and] even with that, largely they can only afford to go to one hockey tournament a year," Oceania Hockey Cup secretary Bob Claxton said.

Mr Claxton said the introduction of Hockey Fives had helped more countries take up the sport and compete in higher level tournaments.

"They [the Solomon Islands] have now got 2,000-plus players where two or three years ago hockey was very very small," he said.

Elite players inspire young teams

The Australian and New Zealand men's and women's teams are also competing at the Oceania Hockey Cup in Rockhampton where they are fighting for a direct qualification to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Ms Howells said watching the level of skill on the field between those players was motivating her and her team.

There is plenty of motivation and inspiration around for the teams to absorb while they are in Rockhampton. ( ABC Capricornia: Rachel McGhee )

"They're like role models to us; we have no words for how amazing it was watching them," she said.

"If we work hard and we try to improve and get better we can be just as good as them, so it's really motivating and inspiring."

Ms Howells said she would love to see tougher competition in her country but it was difficult to attract players due to a lack of facilities and equipment.

"We want to share that with the rest of the country but we don't have the right facilities," she said.

"Soccer is really big back home.

"It'd be amazing if we had the same amount of opportunity as other sports back home but we're definitely pushing for that."