| Highest governing body | Victorian Trugo Association |
|---|---|
| First played | 1920s, Western Suburbs, Melbourne |
| Clubs | 7 |
| Characteristics | |
| Contact | No |
| Team members | Various |
| Mixed-sex | Yes |
| Type | Outdoor, lawn rink |
| Equipment | Mallet, rubber rings, goal posts, rubber plate, catcher |
| Presence | |
| Country or region | Victoria, Australia |
| Olympic | No |
Trugo, alternatively TruGo or True-Go, is an Australian sport where a rubber ring is struck with a mallet so that it passes between a set of posts. The game was developed in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. The first trugo clubs were established in 1930s with the governing body of the sport, the Victorian Trugo Association (VTA), formed in 1940 by four clubs: Footscray, Yarraville, Newport and Williamstown.[1]
The game was traditionally played by senior citizens over 60 years of age as it was conceived as a gentle game for pensioners to maintain social contact after retiring from employment. However, since the 1990s, the game has been progressively opened up to all ages and is now promoted as a cross generational sport.[2]
At the start of the 2020 season, the principal trugo teams are Ascot Vale, Brunswick, Brunswick City, Footscray Doughnuts, Footscray Gumnuts, Port Melbourne, Sandridge, South Melbourne and Yarraville.
While the sport is rarely covered by the mainstream media, from time-to-time trugo has featured in reports covering its unique history and the quirky niche it occupies in Melbourne's sporting culture. For example, in January 2009 the sport was featured on the American TV travel show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations[3][4] and The Age in 2020 provided a video report describing the game as "Melbourne's own working-class sport".[5]