The association was forced to make the difficult decision on Monday night due to a lack of experienced players at the state league level.

"This is a disappointing outcome but the depth and strength of the squad and commitment of enough experienced players is insufficient," HAW president Bert Eastoe said.

"Unfortunately, with seven experienced players and a large number of juniors, this has required a tough call in the interests of the committed players, Hockey ACT and the wider Hockey Albury Wodonga community.

"We were in a similar situation in 2017 and were able to come back from it and hope to field a team in 2021."

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A playing list of 25 and a coach is required to field a team of this type due to the large commitment of time and expense when travelling to play in the Canberra-based competition.

"While the board has been proactive, the lack of a senior rep director has been challenging," Eastoe added.

Eastoe said several avenues were explored before the final decision was made, including emails to clubs and Spitfires groups regarding players and a coach, emails to more than 50 division one players from last year regarding playing, as well as Facebook messages to the wider HAW community regarding players and a coach.

The association made contact with Wagga, Shepparton and Canberra to see if there were players interested in playing with the Spitfires and also explored the option of having one or two international players to bolster the squad as player and or a coach.

HAW will field a men's team in 2020.

Eastoe revealed the board is committed to entering men's and women's teams in 2021 and a strategy to retain and attract players to take up this opportunity is being developed.

The association hopes to run a women's academy this year to assist the process.