Hockey WA

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Hockey WA is the organisation responsible for the sport of Field Hockey in the state of Western Australia. Hockey WA is represented in the Australian Hockey League competition by the SmokeFree WA Thundersticks and the SmokeFree WA Diamonds. Hockey WA also run the top club competitions in Australia, the Melville Toyota League for both Men and Women.

In late 2003, Hockey WA was formed from a merger between the Western Australian Men's Hockey Association and the Western Australian Women's Hockey Association. It is approaching 100 years since the establishment of the individual Associations and it is anticipated that the amalgamation will be of major benefit to Hockey in Western Australia.

Early history[]

^[1]
Early records indicated that hockey matches were taking place in Western Australia around 1903 and that by 1906 four Teams existed in the Perth area. In 1906 an inter-club competition had begun and by 1908 the Western Australian Hockey Association had been formed.

Games involving women and particularly schoolgirls were reported in the early 1900s and the Western Australian Women’s Hockey Association was officially formed on 14 June 1916.

The Western Australian Association decided to adopt the Rules and Regulations of The Hockey Association and sought affiliation with that England based body in 1907.

The early Western Australian teams were mainly located in the Perth area. However the Wilberforce Club Team emerged in 1906 and carried the name of the Hamersley Farm and Homestead, which was situated near York. The Wilberforce team was a family affair and for many of the matches the team mainly comprised the members of two families. The opposing teams were required to travel (by train) back and forth to York and to the City (some 100 kilometres each way) to complete their match programme.

The condition of some of the playing surfaces that were available in these early times was reported to be "poor". However, this may have been partly acceptable to the match participants who were often referred to as being "enthusiastic and robust". The "Association Ground" was the W.A.C.A Cricket Ground of today and was one of the better pitches and regular venues for the hockey matches. Matches were also played at the Royal Agricultural Society's Claremont Show-Grounds and at the South Perth Zoological Gardens.

In the first few years up to six teams including Perth, Wilberforce, Fremantle, YMCA, Claremont and Guildford engaged in hard-fought games in an endeavor to win the Hope Cup, which had been donated by Dr. Hope and was contested by the top grade teams from 1908. Early honors were shared between the Perth and Wilberforce Clubs. In the five-year period from 1908 to 1912 Wilberforce won the Cup three times and Perth won twice.

Inter-Club matches continued until 1915 when World War I intervened and it was in the early 1920s before hockey resumed on a competitive basis. The formation of an Australian Hockey Association had been under consideration and was formalised on 29 June 1925 when the first Annual General Meeting was held in Sydney.

In 1928, Western Australia participated for the first time in an Australian Senior Championship. The Team traveled by Ocean Liner across the Bight to Adelaide to contest the Title, which was ultimately won by the Home Team. Following this, the other States agreed to travel to Perth to take part in the 1929 Carnival, which coincided with this State's Centenary year. Western Australia had its first Title victory in that special year and went on to win the Championship twice in the 1930s and was a strong contender thereafter.

After the Second World War and in the late 1940s, the hockey standards in Western Australia and to a lesser extent in other parts of Australia were strengthened by an influx of skillful and promising young players and coaches, particularly from India, who came to settle in Australia after Independence was gained.

The Senior Inter-State Championship was held annually and the venue rotated among the States. Western Australia was a prominent force. In the period from 1928 to 1992, Western Australia won 29 of the 61 Championships held and this included a nine-year period (1962–70) when eight titles were won. Since 1992, the National Hockey League has become the major annual inter-state competition and Western Australia has won six of the twelve Titles contested to date.

The Western Australian Women's Teams have also been successful at National Championship level. After first competing in 1921, Western Australia won the Championship on 43 occasions including 30 wins in the 35-year period (1957–1991).

These successful State Teams made strong contributions to the development of players and aided selection in Australia's Men and Women's National and International teams. In addition, Perth has been be acknowledged to be the center of strong top-level inter-Club competition.

National Championships[]

Men[]

AHL[]

1991 – present^[2]
Champions: 1992, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2011

Open[]

Champions: 1929, 1936, 1938, 1950, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1991

Under 21[]

Champions: 1946, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1962, 1966, 1967, 1974, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2011

Under 18[]

Champions: 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1962, 1970, 1973, 1984, 1990, 1991, 1998, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2015, 2016

Under 15[]

Champions: 1982, 1983, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2015

Women[]

AHL[]

1993 – present
Champions: 1994, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010

Open[]

Champions: 1929, 1938, 1939, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991

Under 21[]

Champions: 1985, 1988, 2008, 2011

Under 18[]

Champions: 1979, 1985, 1987, 1996, 1997, 2006

Under 15[]

Champions: 2005, 2008

State League[]

Men's Competition[]

Premier League[]

Consists of 12 teams, who play each other on a Home & Away basis covering 22 rounds. At the completion of the season the Minor Premier is awarded the Guth Ardagh flag.

Following the regular season a finals series is played by the top 5 teams to determine the Premier, who is awarded the L.R. Connell Trophy.

Guth Ardagh pennant is awarded to the team that finishes the season on top of the premiership ladder, otherwise known as the minor premiership.

Challenge Cup A mini-final is played between the top 2 teams after the completion of round 11, the winner is awarded the Challenge Cup. This competition ceased to be played after 2012 due to the tight schedule.

Champion Club (R & I Cup) Was a knockout competition open to all clubs across the state. Inaugurated in 1978 and proved to be hugely successful in bringing together clubs from the Perth metropolitan areas with their country counterparts it ceased to be run after 1992.

Promotion & Relegation The bottom 2 teams at the end of the Regular season play a round robin series with the top 2 teams from the 1B competition. The top 2 teams from this series will play in the Premier League the following season, while the bottom 2 will play in the 1B competition.^[3]

Total Premierships[]

Club	Premierships	Most Recent
	22	1989
	14	2015
	12	1987
The University of WA	11	2017
	7	2001
	5	2020
	4	2016
	3	2012
	3	2006
	2	1947
	1	2010

Year by Year[]

^[4]

Year	Premier (L.R. Connell Trophy)	Runner-up	Guth Ardagh 1966 on	Challenge Cup	Champion Club (R & I Club Cup) 1978-1992
1908	Perth
1909	Wilberforce
1910	Wilberforce
1911	Perth
1912	Wilberforce
1913	Cottesloe
1914	Claremont
1919	Claremont
1920	Claremont
1921	Claremont
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926
1927
1928	Perth
1929	Perth
1930
1931	Perth
1932
1933	Perth
1934	Perth
1935	Perth
1936	Perth
1937
1938
1939
1940
1941
1945	The University of WA
1946
1947	The University of WA
1948
1949	The University of WA
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957	Perth
1958	Perth
1959	Perth
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976		The University of WA
1977		The University of WA
1978
1979
1980		The University of WA			The University of WA
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992	The University of WA		The University of WA	The University of WA	The University of WA
1993	The University of WA		The University of WA		The University of WA
1994		The University of WA
1995	The University of WA
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000		The University of WA
2001		The University of WA
2002	The University of WA
2003		The University of WA
2004	The University of WA
2005	The University of WA		The University of WA	The University of WA
2006		The University of WA	The University of WA	Not Contested
2007[5]	The University of WA		The University of WA
2008
2009			The University of WA
2010		The University of WA		The University of WA
2011
2012			The University of WA
2013
2014		The University of WA
2015			The University of WA
2016[6]			The University of WA
2017[7]	The University of WA		The University of WA
2018[8]
2019

Awards[]

Olympians' Medal[]

Awarded annually to the Fairest and Best player in the men's first division competition. Umpires award one set of votes for each qualifying season game on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis with votes confidentially tabulated by Hockey WA and awarded at the Annual Dinner.

Eric Pearce Top Goalscorer Award[]

Named in 2009 after prolific West Australian and Australian Striker Eric Pearce. Is Awarded to the top Goalscorer from the Premier League regular season.

Just Hockey Top Goalkeeper Award[]

Is awarded to the goalkeeper from the Premier League that polls the most votes in the Olympians' Medal.

Paul Gaudoin Youth Award[]

Is awarded to the player Under 21 years of age, who polls the most votes during the Premier League regular season. Is named after former West Australian and Australian Captain Paul Gaudoin.

Merv Adams Medal[]

Is awarded to the fairest and best player from the Premier League Grand Final.

Roll of Honour[]

Year	Olympians' Medal[9]	Eric Pearce Top Goalscorer[10]	Just Hockey Top Goalkeeper[11]	Paul Gaudoin Youth Award[12]	Merv Adams Medal[13]
1976	Steve Hayward (The University of WA)
1977	David Bell ()
1978	David Bell ()
1979	David Bell ()
1980	Ric Charlesworth (The University of WA)
1981	Michael Nobbs ()
1982	Steve Hayward (The University of WA)
1983	Craig Davies ()
1984	Geoff Bott ()
1985	Terry Lecce (
1986	David Bell )
1987	John Bestall ()
1988	Bryan Zekulich ()
1989	Warren Birmingham ()
1990	Michael Nobbs (The University of WA)
1991	Geoff Bott ()
1992	Paul Lewis ()
1993	()
1994	Paul Armitage ()
1995	Graham Reid ()	Glen Kingston () 27 Greg Corbitt () 27
1996	Lee Bodimeade () Graham Reid ()	Greg Corbitt 23 ()
1997	Matthew Wells ()	Daniel Davison 29 ()
1998	Graham Reid ()	Michael McCann25 ()
1999	Ian Wishart ()	Bad Gaudoin 29 ()
2000	Ian Wishart ()	Craig Emslie 25 ()
2001	Paul Armitage ()	Tristram Woodhouse 39 (The University of WA)		Matthew Wells (The University of WA)
2002	Tom Kavanagh ()	Tristram Woodhouse 30 (The University of WA)	Jason Vuletich ()		Matthew Wells (The University of WA)
2003	Andrew Smith ()	Andrew Smith 33 ()	Yuashiro Nobui ()	Kyle Rodrigues ()
2004	()	30 (The University of WA)		(The University of WA)	()
2005	()	27 ()		Paul Nicholls ()	Grant Schubert (The University of WA)
2006	()	26 ()	()	Ian Burcher ()	Leon Martin ()
2007	()	27 ()	Chris Munro ()	Eddie Ockenden ()	Geoff Boyce (The University of WA)
2008	()	31 ()	()	()	Darren Parkes ()
2009	() Brent Dancer () Nathan Eglington ()	Nathan Eglington 39 ()	()	()	Tyler Lovell ()
2010	Kiel Brown () ()	40 (The University of WA)	()	Chris Bausor (The University of WA)	Matt Gohdes ()
2011	()	37 (The University of WA)	Tristan Clemons ()	Nathan McGuire ()	()
2012	Ian Burcher () Jacob Whetton ()	29 (The University of WA)	Andrew Cooke ()	Jacob Whetton ()	Ian Burcher ()
2013	Aran Zalewski ()	Geoff Cock 32 ()	Tristan Clemons ()	Ross Hall ()	Eddie Ockenden ()
2014	Tom Wickham (The University of WA)	Tim Bates 25 ()	James Richardson () Mike Smith (Peel)	Daniel Beale (The University of WA)	Jamie Dwyer ()
2015	Chris Bausor (The University of WA)	Geoff Cock 27 ()	Mike Smith (Peel)	Daniel Rayney ()	Graeme Begbie ()
2016	Chris Bausor (The University of WA)	Justin McDougall 22 () Murray McIntyre 22 ()	Rory Kerr ()	Alec Rasmussen ()	Rob Hammond ()
2017[14]	()	Liam Flynn 26 ()	Ed Chittleborough ()	Darryl McCormick (Fremantle)	(The University of WA)
2018[15]	()	Liam Flynn 20 ()	Leon Hayward ()	Jack Welch ()	Blake Govers ()

Women's Competition[]

Premier League[]

Consists of 10 teams, who play each other on a Home & Away basis covering 18 rounds, 18 matches each. At the completion of the season the Minor Premier is awarded the May Campbell flag.

Following the regular season a finals series is played by the top 4 teams to determine the Premier.

May Campbell pennant is awarded to the team that finishes the season on top of the premiership ladder, otherwise known as the minor premiership.

Challenge Cup A mini-final is played between the top 2 teams after the completion of round 11, the winner is awarded the Challenge Cup. This competition ceased to be played after 2012 due to the tight schedule.

Champion Club (R & I Cup) Was a knockout competition open to all clubs across the state. Inaugurated in 1978 and proved to be hugely successful in bringing together clubs from the Perth metropolitan areas with their country counterparts it ceased to be run after 1992.

Promotion & Relegation The bottom 2 teams at the end of the Regular season play a round robin series with the top 2 teams from the 1B competition. The top 2 teams from this series will play in the Premier League the following season, while the bottom 2 will play in the 1B competition.

Total Premierships[]

Club	Premierships	Most Recent
	14	2015
	10	2013
	10	1985
The University of WA	7	2016
	4	2018
	2	1993
	1	1967

Year by Year[]

^[16]

Year	Premier	Runner-up	May Campbell	Challenge Cup
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977	The University of WA
1978
1979	The University of WA
1980	The University of WA
1981
1982
1983	The University of WA
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988	The University of WA
1989
1990	The University of WA
1991
1992
1993
1994	The University of WA
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002	The University of WA
2003
2004
2005	The University of WA
2006		The University of WA	The University of WA	Not Contested
2007
2008	The University of WA			The University of WA
2009		The University of WA	The University of WA	The University of WA
2010	The University of WA		The University of WA
2011	The University of WA		The University of WA	The University of WA
2012		The University of WA	The University of WA
2013		The University of WA
2014	The University of WA
2015
2016[17]	The University of WA		The University of WA
2017[18]
2018[19]
2019

Awards[]

Charlesworth Medal[]

Is awarded Awarded annually to the Fairest and Best player in the women's first division competition. Umpires award one set of votes for each qualifying season game on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis with votes confidentially tabulated by Hockey WA and awarded at the Annual Dinner. The Medal is named after Ric Charlesworth, Former Captain of WA & Australia, and Hockeyroos Coach from 1994–2000, where he guided them to 2 World Cups (1994, 1998) & 2 Olympic Gold Medals (1996, 2000).

Jackie Pereira Top Goalscorer Award[]

Named after prolific West Australian and Australian Striker Gordon Jackie Pereira. Is Awarded to the top Goalscorer from the Premier League regular season.

Just Hockey Top Goalkeeper Award[]

Is awarded to the goalkeeper from the Premier League that polls the most votes in the Olympians' Medal.

Rechelle Hawkes Youth Award[]

Is awarded to the player Under 21 years of age, who polls the most votes during the Premier League regular season. Is named after former West Australian and Australian Captain Rechelle Hawkes.

Grand Final Fairest & Best Medal[]

Is awarded to the fairest and best player from the Premier League Grand Final.

Roll of Honour[]

Year	Charlesworth Medal[20]	Jackie Pereira Top Goalscorer[21]	Just Hockey Top Goalkeeper[22]	Rechelle Hawkes Youth Award[23]	Grand Final Fairest & Best Medal[24]
1999	Liane Tooth ()	Katrina Powell 16 ()		(The University of WA)
2000	Kim Walker (The University of WA)	Katrina Powell 16 ()		Amanda Calton ()
2001	()	Katrina Powell 16 ()		Larissa Kazakoff ()
2002	()	Tate Napier 15 Fiona Young 15 (The University of WA)		Larissa Kazakoff ()
2003	()	Kirsten Bremner 13 ()		Renee Higman ()	Emily Halliday ()
2004	Shayni Buswell (The University of WA)	16 () 16 ()		()	()
2005	Kim Walker ()	Jacqueline Pereira 17 () Katrina Powell 17 ()		()	Donna-Lee Patrick (The University of WA)
2006	Shayni Buswell (The University of WA)	Katrina Powell 23 ()	()	Kate Denning ()	()
2007	Jayde Taylor ()	Sian Smithson 27 ()	()	()	()
2008	Shayni Nelson (The University of WA)	Sian Smithson 40 ()	Rachael Lynch ()	Kate Denning ()	Shayni Nelson (The University of WA)
2009	Lisa Eglington ()	Lisa Eglington 22 ()	()	()	(The University of WA)
2010	Kate Denning ()	Sian Nelson 19 ()	Toni Cronk ()	Kate Denning ()	Shayni Nelson (The University of WA)
2011	Airlie Ogilvie ()	17 ()	()	()	(The University of WA)
2012	(The University of WA)	15 ()	()	() Kandice Olivieri ()	Kate Denning ()
2013	Kate Denning ()	13 ()	()	Georgia Wilson ()	Kellie White ()
2014	Georgia Wilson ()	22 ()	Ashlee Wells ()	Georgia Wilson ()	Penny Squibb ()
2015	Jacqui Day ()	16 ()	Huia Arahanga-Doyle ()	Stephanie Kershaw ()	()
2016	Jacqui Day ()	11 () 11 ()	Jocelyn Bartram ()	Georgia Wilson ()	(The University of WA)
2017[25]	Madonna Blyth ()	Kathryn Slattery 17 ()	Ashlee Wells ()	Georgia Wilson ()	Kathryn Slattery ()
2018[26]	Madonna Blyth ()	Kim Jong-eun 17 ()	Ashlee Wells ()	Madi Ratcliffe ()	Madi Ratcliffe ()

Ric Charlesworth Classic[]

In 2020 Hockey WA introduced the Ric Charlesworth Classic, a new domestic competition comprising the top players in the state. The tournament serves as a selection event for the Perth Thundersticks, the states team in Hockey Australia's premier domestic league, the Sultana Bran Hockey One.^[27][28]

Results[]

Men's tournament[]

Year		Gold Medal Match				Third and Fourth
		Champions	Score	Runners-up		3rd place	Score	4th place
		–––  Suns	3–2	–––  Outbacks		–––  Breakers	3–2	–––  Highlanders
		–––  Suns	2–2 (3–1 pen.)	–––  Outbacks		–––  Breakers	5–1	–––  Highlanders

Women's tournament[]

Year		Gold Medal Match				Third and Fourth
		Champions	Score	Runners-up		3rd place	Score	4th place
2020		–––  Outbacks	1–0	–––  Highlanders		–––  Breakers	3–1	–––  Suns
2021		–––  Breakers	4–1	–––  Outbacks		–––  Suns	3–1	–––  Highlanders

References[]

External links[]

• Hockey WA [1]