Brisbane Women

BWHA, like many associations, has had a very challenging year. The February/March Floods in South East Qld saw significant damage to our clubhouse, buildings, equipment and fields. While insured the road to recovery is ongoing, we hope to be fully operational again in 2023.

In 2022 BWHA:

• Hosted with BHA a Gala Day to showcase 10 Division 1 fixtures to start the hockey season in Brisbane on the 5th March. 
• Launched a new Social Masters mid-week competition for new and returning players.
• Hosted the successful Women's U18 State Championships at Burringbar Park. BWHA provided many additional umpires to support other centres at this event.
• Despite the damage and ongoing repair to our clubhouse including the canteen, we hosted a successful U11 Southern Cross and Coulter Shield at Downey Park on the 7th August, it was great to see the colour and spectacle of 38 x U11 teams from across the south east corner of Qld participating.
• A successful fixture competition for over 3500 members across 7 venues on grass and turf, a 5% increase of membership from 2021.
• Filming and livestreaming of our Division 1 & 2 fixtures through briZHockey which is watched throughout Australia and through the FIH App.

Cairns

In 2022 Cairns Hockey Association (CHA) has seen a 4.1% increase in member numbers through a variety of programs including but not limited to Sporting Schools, After School Programs, Development Programs, and Hookin2Hockey programs. Moreover, CHA engaged with Atherton Hockey to run a few clinics with Atherton Hockey Association and also with Peninsula Sport to run come and try's in Cairns and Innisfail. During the winter season CHA ran multiple awareness days such as the pride round, breast cancer awareness round, men's round and so forth.  CHA also introduced a D-grade non club competition for mums and other 18+ year olds who have not played hockey before to get a taster and learn to play before signing up for clubs in the following season. Throughout the year CHA further ran social hockey to engage to further community which included Social 6's during every term, Walking Hockey, and annual Primary and Secondary School Gala Days. CHA further engaged with the Cairns community with running its Aspire to Be Deadly Program and also being involved with multiple All Abilities days. CHA introduced the #REPRESENT Blue Academy and the #REPRESENT Gold Academy. The #REPRESENT Academy was designed and developed for athletes to get further training and development in their pursuit to Represent Cairns Hockey and ultimately Queensland Hockey. The Blue Academy is the development level academy that saw 37 U13 Players and a further 19 U16 players participate. The Gold Academy is for performance purposes with 29 athletes participating between U13 - U18 age groups. These Academies made use of 10 coaches to help their own coaching abilities and also help develop these athletes. One of these coaches coached for HQ in U18 Nationals Championship, 6 coached CHA rep teams, and the rest were either further involved in coaching their Club's A grade or other club teams. CHA also introduced its Hockey Heroes Program for U8 and U10's. This program was intended to help develop the coaches of U8 and U10 club teams to start coaching the same techniques and the use of same language. This was both implanted to develop young coaches but also improve the learning experience for U8 and U10 members.

Ipswich

Hosted 4 major carnivals in the span of 4 months:

• • QSS 1319 Boys Hockey State Championships
  • QSS 1012 Boys and Girls Hockey State Championships
  • Hockey Queensland U13 Girls State Championships
  • U15 Coulter Shield

The inclement weather disruptions meant that changes were required at short notice, and positive leadership and efficient decision making was essential.

New in 2022:

• • Junior Kickers Program designed to develop goal keepers aged 12 and under - ran over 5 weeks - delivered by NDS GK Emily Witheyman-Crump
  • Big Hockey Bash FREE come&-try - 100+ participants (aged 5-10)
  • 6+ School Holiday Camps delivered more to come (9-17 Year Olds)
  • Revamped Junior Stix Program March-August 3-9 Year Olds
  • Online Coach Development Program cross sport development for coaches starting with a session by Ipswich Basketball CEO around Coaching with Confidence.
  • Attended multiple community events resulting in community Come-&-Try Programs
  • Developed IHA Playstyle Document and Keys to Success plan.
  • New Volunteer Program to effectively manage volunteers.
  • New Automated Stock Control System to reduce waste.
  • Club development simplified with a newly introduced RCD Booking process more efficient and targeted support opportunities.

Mackay

MHA has had a remarkable year in 2022, MHA continues to grow its members each year in challenging circumstances. MHA participated in many themed days this year including, Women in sport, Mens Mental health, Pride round, NAIDOC round. These rounds provided the members with great atmosphere. MHA continues to supply a High Performance Academy, under the guidance of Tracy Belbin. This too has proven very successful with several selections into Queensland teams, we also had a member named in the futures from this Academy. Once again Mackay will host a an Outdoor state Championships in September for U15 boys. Mackay will also host 2 x Indoor state Championships for the U13 Girls and Boys at our new venue.  MHA has also supported MSHA in the U11 Carnival that is held in Mackay in August for the last 30years, gaining a 5 year sponsorship from QLD Xray to ensure this continues. MHA has also gained a representative GK sponsor so that we can finally offer our representative GK Team uniforms and colours.

Sunshine Coast

This year SCHA promoted hockey across the Sunshine Coast with Radio, Television, Signage and Newspaper articles at a cost of approx. $10K In line with HQ Grow participation and retention initiative. SCHA saw a growth his year of 30% in Sunny Stars (Formally H2H) and 14% growth in U11 Mixed age comp.

In January SCHA held an Open Day, this day includes a Come & Try component with coaching and games run by our RCD and Sports Development Officer and volunteers, Club sign-up where all clubs can engage and promote their club to the public and returning members, Sponsor promotion opportunities to the community and Legends v SC All Stars match which attracted television news crews and newspaper attention promoting hockey within the community.

In May SCHA hosted the over 60 Mens Masters with over 100 players and over 200 visitors to the centre and Sunshine Coast community promoting and supporting hockey over the 3 day tournament period.

2022 saw a difficult start to the year with SCHA being affected by the floods in February/March, however SCHA efficiently managed to fulfil a full season of fixtures through organised and well planned make-up games and Gala Days to reschedule over 50+ washed out games.

This year also saw the successful engagement of new sponsorship with Bendigo Bank Buderim who are the major sponsors for our Sunshine Coast Umpire Academy and Tura Sports who have sponsored shirts for the Legends and SC All Star Match.

SCHA also spent over $45k refurbishment of the clubhouse and facility with the purchase of new Cash register system, carpet, furniture and Scoreboard. This has been well received by the members enjoying an updated environment with latest technology equipment.

This year SCHA has implemented a new programme Sunshine Coast Umpire Academy. This attracted over 35 enthusiastic Junior members at the launch evening held in August, with a Senior Umpire academy to launch next year. This programme will be mentored by highly badged umpire officials to significantly benefit the quality of hockey at our SCHA association but also across QLD with the hope of providing highly skilled umpires for State Championships and HQ events. 

SCHA have engaged a Registered Nurse and paid her expenses for ongoing education to be able to provide our volunteer Club Coaches and Managers and SCHA Representative Managers and Coaches with First Aid Training and Certificates regularly internally.

Townsville

The Townsville Hockey Association is recognised in the community as one of the biggest contributing factors to maximising the unique lifestyle of this region. Townsville Hockey have increased our community impact through directed focus on the ‘Hockey Experience’ of every prospective member.

Retaining and attracting new and returning players has been a priority in 2022. Programs such as Mini Sticks, the Officiating Academy, the J-League, and our junior mixed divisional Club competition led to the yearly increase of over 90 new registrations to clubs.

The implementation of a new mixed master’s competition (M-League) saw an additional competition and playing platform entered in 2022. These new and returning members further increased the number of teams across senior competitions in the traditional club system as well as the number of volunteers with previous hockey experience so vitally needed for season operation.

The continued upgrading of Townsville Hockey facilities sees our ability to host Major events in the future a greater reality. This was proven by the successful hosting of the Queensland Masters Women in 2022. Townsville Hockey Association are growing in memberships, volunteers, initiatives, and overall quality of the Hockey experience in North Queensland.

Phil Taylor

The HBHA is nominating Phil Taylor for volunteer of the year due to his relentless hours of selfless dedication and time he gives to the hervey bay hockey association, its players, members and the local sporting community. He is the President of the HBHA, he coaches all the association juniors, Minkeys, U/12's, U/15's, & hookin2hockey program, facilitates all junior fixtures. Phil coaches and trains all junior representative, state & national players supporting their aspirations and commitments. He coaches senior 'A' men & women's teams. Coordinates the junior and senior umpires & coaches. Phil maintains the association grass fields, turf and the complex facilities. Phil facilitates the association local senior competitions and is the association volunteer development officer. Conducts hockey school programs and the association come & try initiatives. Phil is a much-respected personality of the hockey community, inclusive of local, state and national entities. Phil is very versed in all facets of the hockey environment local and representative teams having represented QLD and Australia at many tournaments. The HBHA is honoured to nominate Phil for this Hockey QLD award.

Karen Fry

Volunteered as the Chair of the Junior Competitions Advisory group for CHA to help drive the junior hockey recruitment, retention, and development strategies. Organise volunteers to help run junior programs. Assisted with rep trials, and organised junior presentations. Karen further umpired on a weekly basis and also mentored multiple junior umpires throughout 2022.

Bronwyn Morris

Bronwyn Morris is a member of the BWHA Board of Management, the HBI and BHMG Boards, dedicating hours to the administration and advancement of hockey in Brisbane.

Following the floods she worked tirelessly to clean, repair and remove debris from the BWHA facility.

Club Involvement:

• Club Secretary for one of the largest clubs in Brisbane, Northern Suburbs Hockey
• Coaches/manages a number of Senior and Masters women’s teams
• Took on the additional challenge of coaching a Junior Grass team this year.

BWHA Projects:

In 2022 Bronwyn added to her already significant volunteer load to take on the position of U18 State Women's Tournament Convenor held at Burringbar Park. This entailed organisation and liaison with Hockey Queensland, as well as preparing, sourcing and transporting equipment from Downey Park to Burringbar Park needed for the championship. Like all events held around Queensland the work starts well before the event and isn't completed until well after. Bronwyn ensured the event ran smoothly with rosters of BWHA volunteers to support the event.

Bronwyn is self-motivated, reliable and always ready to lend a hand to promote hockey, BWHA is very lucky to have her and believe she would be a worthy recipient of this award.

Maddi Carter

Maddi Carter is one of our young volunteers that contributes year in year out for Redlands Hockey.  Somehow Maddi fits all of these roles into her week as well as play several games! 

*Junior Committee Coordinator (one of the most important roles of the club, and excels at building every single junior team at season start and massaging the make up for 2 weeks to get them just right)

*Social Media Coordinator (content is quality and engagement results have gone through the roof!)

*J2 Coach (has just won 2022 Coach of the Year!)

Masters Manager (brought her organisational skills to the trip and looked after the girls)

U18 Rep Coach (another reason why voted 2022 Coach of the Year!)

Buggy Driver (always zipping around the fields to set up or pack down the loads)"

Sam Warhurst          

Sam Warhurst is a tireless volunteer within the Toowoomba Hockey association. Sam is always willing to fill a position at a club or association level. In 2022 Sam managed four different representative teams, as well as numerous club teams. Sam was a technical official, for all divisions across the season always willing to fill the slot no one else would and making herself available at several State championships. Sam also helped tirelessly with fundraising and providing those special extras for the representative players from printed water bottles, handmade facemasks, and home baking. Sam is a valued member of the Toowoomba Hockey Association and is always keen to help everywhere and her time and efforts are appreciated.

Warren Flower

1.         Warren is the President of the Sunshine Coast Hockey Association for last 2 years. Warren orchestrated the advertising campaign for the SCHA at the start of 2022 which included Television, Radio, Newspaper and Signage which was an investment of over $10K in the development of growth of increasing hockey participation in the Sunshine Coast community. We believe this was the result of a rise of 30% in our Sunny Stars (formally H2H) programme and an increase of 14% in the U11 Mixed age comp. Even with the effects of COVID still hindering sport SCHA have managed to retain and even grow Hockey on the Sunshine Coast.

2.         Warren was responsible for approaching a Registered Nurse and organising her to obtain further education to enable her to train both SCHA Rep Coach and Managers and Individual Club Coaches and Managers in First Aid and receive First Aid Certificates which is a requirement for all Managers taking away Representative teams to QLD State Championships.

3.         As president of the SCHA, Warren is consistently holding President meetings with the presidents of our local 10 Clubs to gather and generate ideas for the future and continual growth of our SCHA. Warrens latest project is to form a Sub-Committee to work towards gaining a second turf within the next 5 years.

4.         As the President of the SCHA Warren oversees the efficient running of 10 Clubs, 6 paid employees and a team of 10 Board Members and Positive Sports Officers. This year also saw Warren take on the major task of compiling and organising the insurance claim for SCHA due to the devastating floods in February/March which was in excess of $60K. This also included researching and applying for flood relief grants. A very time consuming exercise, that involved over 3 months of continual work.

5.         Warrens friendly and inclusive personality has seen volunteer numbers grow and want to be part of the SCHA. His leadership as SCHA President and strong personal values make people gravitate toward him and encourage people to be the best versions of themselves when around him.

6.         Warrens impressive background of hockey involvement over the last 50 years, including formations of Association Committees, Chairman, Secretary and QLD Representative of  the Australian Masters Committee, Australian Masters player and Coach and committee member at a local club level, naturally gives Warren the advantage of promoting a sport he clearly loves and has achieved at a very high level nationally.

7.         SCHA has benefited this year through Warrens direction, a complete refurbishment of the clubhouse including- new furniture, carpet, Cash register system and Scoreboard. Warren also was in charge of the disaster recovery from the floods earlier this year, organising replacement and repairs of all flood damage equipment and overseeing massive clean-up efforts.

Tony Comerford

Tony has been BHA President 2015 and 2016; on BHA Board from 2014 to present making significant contributions where he holds the Indoor Portfolio; and is heavily involved in Qld Indoor.

Tony has assisted with BHA events including Grand final days; with representative teams; with the draws and uploading of results; with the oversight of Rules and Regulations. He is the chair of the BIHL Committee, a member from 2012 – 2022 and in that role has been responsible for securing the venue at Kedron. In BIHL he oversees the structure of the competition, grading and draws; and the player and umpire development and allocations of officials. This has resulted in the significant growth in the sport at senior and junior level; in the organisation gaining financial security; in the development of representative pathways and competitions.

Meanwhile Tony is an active umpire and technical official at both indoor and outdoor; has been a team manager at Club and Representative level; engages at all levels with players, officials and supporters.

Tony is innovative, thoughtful and reliable. The Association is grateful for his significant contribution and believe that his services should be recognised with this HQ Award. 

​​​​​​Gympie Hockey - Hockey Smash

To give the 2022 season a real kickstart and to help promote hockey throughout the region, Gympie Hockey developed the Hockey Smash, a pre-season event played between the top 30 male and 30 female players in Gympie.

Based on concepts such as the Big Hockey Hit Out and crickets Big Bash, players nominated and then were selected via a player draft. Coaches where appointed by the board including three Queensland Coaches.

Overwhelming response from local businesses saw an event sponsor, team sponsors named for each of the four sides and the officials.

The event not only consisted of the main men's and women's matches but also Come & Try Session for the kids, a junior skills clinic led by the Smash coaches and players and a DJ enhanced the overall experience, pumping out tunes all day and night.

After a mountain of positive feedback from players, coaches and the huge crowd, Gympie Hockey are making plans to make the Hockey Smash a regular event on the calendar and hatching ideas to make it bigger and better in 2023 including inviting special guest players, making it a 3 game series, more teams, player auctions, etc.

Warwick Hockey Association - Bernie Trapp Merge Cup

This season Warwick decided to structure their season a little differently from other seasons. Previously we have run a branch structure for our men’s and women’s competition but in the past couple of years players have been looking for a stronger competition and some branches have been struggling for numbers.

To bring players together to encourage a little more cohesiveness within the association we decided to run a 9-week competition consisting of putting all player that were registered for the season into teams of equal strength.

This structure was very well received by the players and the competition was a great success. Players of all ages and strengths were placed into teams and players got to play with people that they had always been rivals with. The committee were blown away by the improvement of so many players by getting to play with different people and how keen everyone was to see the structure run again next season.

In January of this WHA lost one of our Life Members and stalwarts: Bernie Trapp. Bernie was instrumental in the joining of the Men’s Association & the Womens Association to form the Warwick Hockey. Making it fitting that it was called the Bernie Trapp Merge Cup.

#REPRESENT Blue Academy

Run during the off-season (October - February) the academy was designed to act as a development program for both players and coaches. This program’s philosophy is within the name #REPRESENT, wanting to create an opportunity for both players and coaches striving to represent at the next level, be it in a club, representative teams, or state teams. The program included 37xU13 players, 19xU16 players, and 8xcoaches. These coaches had the opportunity to get feedback from Matt Wells and were further invited to a coaching workshop that was run by Matt Wells. Six of these coaches eventuated in coaching CHA rep teams in 2022. The academy led to both coaches and players participate in the CHA All Stars competition that saw 4 teams in U14, 4 teams in U16, 4 Women teams, and 4 Mens teams participate in. From the 37xU13 players, 35 players represented CHA in 2022, with 7 selected within HQ U13 teams and a further 2 as shadows. This is especially significant as CHA only had 1xU13 player selected in 2021. All 17 U16 players were selected to represent CHA rep teams in 2022.

Junior Kickers          

Regular and quality Goalkeeper Development was recognised as a clear gap both locally and state-wide.

We have developed multiple programs and initiatives to ensure that this specialist position is being developed, whilst also promoting the growth of goalkeeping participants.

The Junior Kickers program - monthly sessions for goalkeepers 12 and under. This program has been designed to provide quality base level skills at an early age so that as these young athletes progress they already have the essential skills required to be successful. Enjoyment was also a major aspect of the program, when the participants are having fun they are more likely to return and increase their participation - and bring others along for the journey!

Through the program the participants gained the confidence to not only take on the position full time, but also made the goalkeeper position one of prestige and importance.

National Development Squad member Emily Witheyman-Crump provided specialty coaching, while also enhanced the connection between high performance and grassroots - essential to continued success of all programs.

Mixed Masters (M-League)

Consultation within the hockey community identified the need for a social pathway for a Mixed Masters Competition. This initiative highlighted the opportunity to bring new players to the sport which has significantly increased our member base. Looking outside the box, Townsville Hockey found that there were masters aged ladies and men, some of whom were current members and some new to the sport that wanted to play a non-competitive brand of hockey for enjoyment with their peers rather than in the men’s competitive competition. It has brought in new players to the sport with mums, dads, brothers, sisters, and grandparents just to name a few. The creation of the M league competition filled this gap and gave an opportunity to ALL these players to play, and a united group was formed.

This initiative was solely driven by a small group of volunteers that put together a business proposal to the THA Board which detailed the need for increasing the playing profile of the association and giving another pathway for volunteer umpires to learn in a very supportive environment. The tenacious drive of these volunteers has seen a competitive, yet very social season play out with new players and coaches and umpires still registering throughout the season.

This initiative has brought enjoyment of hockey to a wider community base. It has fostered new partnerships, friendships and brought an opportunity to foster and grow hockey within North Qld.

Promotion of this initiative came from social media drives, come try days, word of mouth and community surveys. It engaged all members and most importantly found ways to get more families to play sport which in turn is fantastic for a healthy life balance. Tuesday night at Townsville Hockey now is a fun, exciting inclusive experience.

Masters Mid-Week Social Program

In 2021 BWHA trialled a mid-week daytime social Masters hockey program, the program was set up to:

• utilise the turf during the day when it was available;
• encourage Masters players to enjoy hockey in a social atmosphere;
• provide a safe and supportive environment for new or returning players;
• provide some coaching and game skills on turf.

The trial started with 23 players for 3 weeks.

In 2022 we advertised for Term 1 - Thursday mornings 9.30 to 11am at the BNHC, Burringbar Park, 30 participants signed up. In Term 2 we had 23 players and Term 3 now has 32 players, with 4 players new to hockey, some players travel from the Sunshine Coast.

Special thanks to Pam Nitarski who provides a coaching session to start the program each week, and then a game is played on either a full or reduced size field depending on the number in attendance on the day. The BWHA Development Officer attended one session to give additional training tips.

The more experienced players help the beginners and the session is enjoyed by all.

This program has provided an opportunity for players new to hockey or returning after a lengthy break to re-engage with the sport.

​Rhylee Pendrigh

Rhylee coached the following teams from the 2021 Indoor season through to the 2022 winter season:

• • U15 Cairns Hockey Indoor team
  • Help prepared the U18 Cairns girls that played for Gympie
  • Help prepared the selected athletes for the HQ Indoor Carnivals
  • Coach Saints Hockey Club’s U14 boys, U16 girls, and Agrade women
  • Assisted as selector and coach in various Cairns Hockey representative teams
  • Assistant coach for HQ U18 #2 team
  • Coached U14 and Open women team during Cairns Hockey’s Preseason All-Stars Competition
  • Assisted in coaching within the CHA #REPRESENT Hockey Academy

Throughout all these programs Rhylee showed professionalism and dedication to developing players, she is also a role model for other coaches and encourages others to coach as well.

Paul Malcolm

Paul goes above and beyond dedicating time to hockey both at a club level and the association level.

Paul is the President of the Easts Hockey Club in Ipswich, he currently coaches the J1 Boys, R2 Men, Ipswich Under 11 Boys, Ipswich Under 13 Boys, and assists with the Ipswich Under 15 #2 Boys team.

Paul has dedicated his time to these representative and club teams for many years, at times coaching all junior teams at Easts - ensuring that they get on the field.

Paul supports the association by regularly putting up his hand to assist recruiting players to the representative program - his mission is to ensure all representative teams have enough players to make it to state championships and carnivals - even when he has no family connection to the teams - whether it is a Number 1 or Number 2 team.

When the association is delivering development programs and sessions, Paul is always eager to be involved by assisting the coaches. He also has a desire, and the dedication, to continually learn and improve his coaching.

Jodie Kenny

1.         Jodie holds a Level 2 Coaching accreditation.

2.         Born and breed QLDer, Jodie’s values for #teamQLD run deep. She consistently promotes hockey through everything she does from coaching and mentoring in the local programmes she has established at SCHA through coaching at a National level and supporting our local representatives at QLD State Championships wen her schedule allows  it.

3.         Former Olympian and Australian Captain of the Womens Team – Hockeyroos, Jodie Kenny is the pinnacle example of inspiration and leadership to the future of hockey. As RCD for SCHA, Jodie coaches a junior representative development training programme increasing the number of  SCHA players selected in QLD squads including 2 girls selected to represent in the Australian Futures Squad this year. Jodie organises coaching accreditation courses at SCHA encouraging and supporting volunteers to coach teams within our association.

4.         Jodie’s continued dedication to hockey since her retirement from Professional Hockey has seen her invited to Coach at the National Future specialist camp focusing on Drag Flicking and QLD Big Hockey Hit Out supporting Sunshine Coast representatives.

5.         Jodie is committed to the development of Hockey through mentoring, educating and developing future hockey stars like herself. She demonstrates this by the various programmes she has developed within SCHA including, Sunny Stix (u6) a junior introduction skills programme for beginners, Sunny Stars (h2h) the ‘Junior Introduction Competition’ which has seen a growth this year of 30% and the implementation of U11 mixed age group in the ‘Junior Fixture Competition’ which has also seen an increase of 11% from last year. Jodie also dedicates an enormous amount of energy into visiting the local schools and promoting and introducing hockey to primary aged children and converting them to play hockey on the Sunshine Coast.

Matthew Bradley

Matt nominated and was appointed as the BWHA HQ Championships Team Coach, and BWHA U18/2 Team Coach in 2022.

The time spent coaching and training these teams was a commitment that covered at least 12 weeks of the season. Matt is a regular BWHA Development Clinic coach, and often helps out other representative coaches when they’re absent from training.

Peter Searston

Peter has been involved in coaching in Townsville for well over 40 years, having coached at association and club level since the 1980s. His leadership and mentoring are invaluable and has been key to the development of countless players and coaches within Townsville Hockey.

Currently Peter is involved in many management and coaching roles within Townsville and HQ -

-           Selector for Hockey One Brisbane Blaze Men

-           Hockey Queensland Coaching Committee

-           THA Senior Men’s coach

-           Brothers Hockey - Townsville’s Director of Coaching.

-           Brothers Division 1 Men’s & Ladies Assistant Coach

This year Seo has been part of the management team for the Kookaburras and has recently been announced as the lead coach of Hockey Queensland RDS (Northern program).

When in Townsville, you will find Seo at THA fields every Wednesday from 5pm developing under 10s and staying on until the conclusion of Div 1 Men training at 9:30pm. Peter is always on hand to share his expertise with players and coaches alike. This includes players who are in their first year of hockey or are currently representing Queensland.

His continual pursuit of excellence and unwavering professional attitude toward hockey, and player development is a key part of future development within THA.

Russell Cornish

Russell Cornish has been an essential part of the training and development of Toowoomba male athletes in 2022. In the preseason Russell was involved in the development of all junior athletes in preseason clinics. He was head of the selector for Junior boys, attending to and assisting with selecting all teams.   He was the head coach of our silver medal-winning Under 18 team, working with this group to improve the culture on and off the field, citing one of his most precious moments with this group being the way they worked together when not playing.  Russell was also the assistant coach of the Toowoomba silver medal-winning Under 13 team, working with developing this age level’s fundamental skills and ability to read the game.  Russell also coached numerous club teams and was a mentor to many other coaches and players throughout the 2022 season.  Toowoomba Hockey association is fortunate to have Russell Cornish as part of our association.

​​​​​​Dan Mayfield

Danny is well known amongst several age groups and is instrumental in the coaching and developing Mackay athletes.

Danny started the year by assisting and establishing a Men’s Open team which he trained and organized up until the championships.

He then went on to Assistant Coach of the U18 Mens team, which Won Division 2 on the Gold Coast.

Now it was time to move onto coaching the U13 Mackay boys team in Gladstone.

Danny also coaches U12 St Francis team in school hockey.

Danny coaches many levels at indoor hockey as well from junior teams through to Rep teams.

Danny is always willing to step in and cover HP trainings when required.

Dave Donnelly

Dave coached within the following programs from October 2021 to present:

-           Cairns #Represent Blue Academy Coach

-           CHA Pre-season All Stars Competition

-           Souths Hockey Club U14 coach

-           CHA U13 Rep team coach

-           Cairns #Represent Gold Academy coach

 Dave throughout shows professionalism with the way he coaches and teaches the athletes life lessons away from the turf as well.

Georgia Stenzel

In 2022 Georgia has contributed many hours to the development and growth of Ipswich Hockey.

Georgia delivered school and community programs in a volunteer capacity, she has assisted with the planning and delivery of major recruitment events, she is the current coach of the Ipswich Under 15 Girls #2 team, and has played a part in the planning and delivery of specialist skills development programs.

Georgia has supported the association by delivering some of our Junior Stix sessions in the absence of the regular coordinator. Georgia also assisted our High Performance coaches with program delivery (Junior Kickers, Penalty Corner Programs, School Holiday Camps, Goalkeeper clinics) throughout 2022.

Georgia provides support with communication and promotion of recruitment events and programs, both internally and throughout the community.

Georgia is also the coach of the WMAC girls team who compete in the TAS competition.

Georgia has an eagerness to learn and develop as a coach, and has put in countless hours during 2022 to grow as a coach.

Michelle Thompson

1.         Michelle Thomson holds a Level 1 Coaching Accreditation she is also an Exercise Physiologists and within this role her continual profession development education covers coaching as well.

2.         Michelle continually demonstrates a high standard of leadership within our community coaching across all levels of club and representative hockey. Michelle has just won the SCHA Community Coach award 2022 for her outstanding commitment to Sunshine Coast Hockey. 

3.         Michelle has coached the Maroochydore Hockey Club Sunny Stars (Formally H2H) for the last 7 years. This year saw her coaching 3 teams, 2 x U7 and 1 x U9.

Michelle also this year co-coached U13 Girls who went on to be the Major Premiers for 2022.

Michelle coached the U11 Girls SCHA representative team which played in the Southern Cross Tournament in Brisbane in August this year.

Michelle coaches Flinders Hockey Club Division 2 Women’s team.

4.         Michelle consistently demonstrates a high passion for teaching and coaching hockey, which is contagious to everyone she is in the presence of, therefor encouraging and inspiring others to volunteer their time to assist Michelle or follow in her footsteps.

Noreen Walton

Noreen Walton - Nors contributes an incredible amount of time coaching for her club, UQ. In the 2022 season she has coached the PL3 Women, ML1 Women (also playing in this team), ML3.1 Women and ML3.2 Women – these two teams playing in the same division. During the “ML3 Derby” where both teams play each other, Nors is seen jumping from bench to bench. Nors continues to upskill her coaching, having attended a Level 3 course late in 2021. To top it all off, Noreen is also an active umpire, representative player and the Women’s Chair for UQ, looking after the coordination of all senior women’s teams.

Patrick O'Neill          

Patrick is the current President of Commercials Hockey Club and through culture and commitment over many years has made it the most successful club in Townsville. His contribution is enormous as he goes above and beyond to sets teams, coaches across Junior and Senior divisions and deals with ALL issues that arise throughout the season, running the club in a very professional manner. It is a very time intensive and thankless job and Patrick remains steadfast and continues to be a positive role model for all, whilst being an active player, running a business and having a family of five.

Patrick has also contributed to improving the culture of THA and is more than happy to work with anyone from other clubs to ensure the best outcomes for all involved. He has coached and mentored many Townsville players including U15 Townsville Boys and U13 Townsville Girls and believes in a wholistic approach where you don’t just coach the superstars, but hockey is for all skill levels, and everyone deserves the opportunity to learn and develop. His level head and wish for everyone to be given a fair go makes him a worthy nomination for this award.

Hayley Kendall

Bundaberg Hockey Association Inc would like to nominate Hailey Kendall for the Association Umpire of the Year award. Hailey attended the U13 Girls State Championships this year where she was awarded the Kim Thomasson and Julie Ashton-Lucy Young Aspiring Umpire Award.

Hailey was allocated to umpire the Division 1 Grand Final and subsequently was presented the award at the end of the Championships. I know she is very proud of the feedback that she was given after the games and continues to aspire to achieve higher accreditation for her umpiring. She is always happy to help out with umpiring at an Association level each weekend and has undertaken the Division 1 Women games this season as well as mentoring her peers. Hailey is one of our quiet achievers and is a fantastic example for our young umpires and what they can aspire to and achieve. She has attained her Community Advanced level and we are so very proud of the acknowledgement she has received this year.

Chantel Manhire

Chantel has worked hard this year to be recertified as a Level 2 umpire which she achieved at u18 State Championships.  Chantel is an active participant in the development of the next generation of umpires in Toowoomba.  Chantel has mentored both junior umpires as well as supporting senior umpires to develop and improve their skills.   Chantel has been active in providing junior mentors with hints and tips that she has learned throughout and as a recognition of this Chantel was asked to be an umpire coach at the upcoming U15 State Championships.  At a local level Chantel regularly umpires A1 and A2 division and also assists in J1 and lower divisions as needed.  Chantel was appointed to the A1 Women’s Grand Final for THA recently as a result of the umpiring skill that she has shown throughout the year, Chantel also filled into a lower division men’s game due to a late withdrawal to ensure that the men had a suitable umpire for their Grand Final.  Congratulations to Chantel on her achievements in 2022, THA appreciates your contributions.

Chloe Vaughan

Chloe is a regular mentor and Umpire to our junior association every Saturday morning. Chloe also Umpires senior hockey weekly and is on the associations umpire committee. Chloe volunteers her time to attend the Masters women championships and also the U18 women's state championships where she received her Level 1 this year. Chloe continues to support and mentor our upcoming umpires.

Deborah O'Connell

1.         Deborah holds an Australian Umpiring Badge for both Outdoor and Indoor Hockey.

2.         Debbies enthusiasm for promoting hockey at a high standard is very clear in the way she conducts herself with such a professional approach with her umpiring and her constant efforts to educate and improve her abilities. Debbie sits on the Hockey One Umpire Panel where she shows leadership and inspiration to developing Umpires. She is also volunteered to mentor with the new SCHA umpire academy again giving back to the local Sunshine Coast Hockey Community.

3.         Deborah consistently volunteers to umpire at a local level at SCHA. She is very confident and capable of umpiring a high level of hockey often umpiring the Division 1 fixtures. She inspires all of our up and coming Junior Umpires and often offers support and mentorship to those around her.

4.         Deborah shows outstanding leadership in her involvement with Umpiring through the amount of work she does not only locally but also nationally.

This includes umpiring at;       U21 Australian Championships – Gold Medal Final

                                                Big Hockey Hitout – Gold Medal Final

                                                Umpire Coach QLD U18

                                                Umpire Manager QLD U15

                                                Umpire Manager QLD Indoor Super 6's

Melanie Blanchard

Mel is a Brisbane home grown umpire who attended the National U21's Tournament in 202 and was awarded her Australian badge. She regularly umpires PL1 & PL2 division games in the BWHA competition, she also mentors and assesses umpires in the BWHA competition and at State Championships (U18's) as appointed by Hockey Queensland.

Robert Lewis

Rob Lewis is a level 1 advanced umpire, and a HQ umpire assessor. He is a regular senior umpire with the THA umpire pool.

He is still an active player with a career and a family, Rob is a fantastic volunteer and continues to inspire the juniors to umpire as well as working hard to develop a network of umpire mentors.

Every week that he is in Townsville he is down at hockey helping develop our umpires and support the association and volunteer to help whenever needed.

Rob runs umpire training sessions for the juniors, he encourages the juniors to complete their theory training and assesses them for their community badge. As a passionate umpire himself he enjoys watching our younger umpires progress and improve from beginner to state championship levels. 

Not just as an umpire himself, as the THA junior umpire coordinator Rob has done so much to help foster and grow the academy- it’s great to see that so many of our junior umpires are so proud of wearing the academy umpire shirt each week.

Stephen Rogers

Steve has umpired in Brisbane for over 15 years now. Over these years he has gained his international badge. He has also mentored junior umpires by traveling out to games Saturday mornings before umpiring seniors in the afternoon or at Friday night J1 boys. Steve has run umpire workshops over these times and many junior umpires look up to Steve. In the last 2 years Steve has jumped on the BHA board taking on the Director of Umpiring roll. With this comes allocations for all games. Overseeing umpire payments, attendance at board meetings all this while officiating at Commonwealth games and upcoming men's World Cup in Jan 23. As well as multiple Pro-League allocations in various countries. Steve is always available and approachable for all umpires to ask anything about officiating.

​​​​​​Brent Brown

1.         Brent holds a Hockey Australia Level 3 accreditation.

2.         Brent always makes himself available to volunteer and assist both at MHC club level and for the SCHA. His knowledge and eagerness to share is so valuable and inspiring to everyone around him.

3.         Brent shows outstanding leadership in his involvement with Technical Official through the amount of work he does not only locally but also nationally.

This includes Technical Official duties at;     

Tournament Director  U18 National Championships Cairns

Technical Manager QLD Open Hockey Championships Brisbane

Tournament Director  - QLD Womens Masters State Championships Townsville Technical Officer Hockey Australia Domestic Series

4.         Brent’s outstanding leadership and development shows through his involvement in various mentor programmes and volunteering and ongoing service to Hockey improvement.

This includes;

Chair of QLD Technical Official Panel

Sits on Hockey One Technical Panel

Presents and assesses regularly at Hockey QLD Technical Mentor Programme.

Cath Platts

Cath once again has played a major part in Mackay. Cath is the chair of the Technical committee in Mackay and arranges Techs for the weekly fixtures. Cath also holds Tech training days to help clubs train Tech officials. Cath herself regularly Techs in the local competition. Cath also Techs and TD many State level competitions through out the year, Cath has had several TD roles this year in the outdoor sector and will also flow into the indoor season. Cath is a remarkable mentor to others.

Georgia Crisp

From juniors to seniors, Georgia is officiating, mentoring, encouraging and professional in all her appointments as technical official with THA.

Georgia is always happy to help any person looking at ‘giving’ tech officiating a go. Georgia officiates countless games every week from masters, social masters, juniors, and seniors. Her commitment to officiating was strengthened with a strong performance at the Hockey Qld U18 Men’s State Championship and the Women’s Masters Championships here in Townsville.

Georgia is very committed to her role as a technical official, volunteering every Saturday morning with junior games even though she has no children playing the sport. She is at hockey morning until late evening and is always a welcoming face to teams playing, gaining the respect of all her peers because of how she conducts herself each and every game.

Growing the volunteer base of technical officials is very difficult, however with Georgia’s encouragement people are stepping up and doing the role as they see how important it is to the hockey community and exemplifies the spirit of hockey. She leads by example and promotes hockey for not only volunteer opportunities but hockey as a whole.

Janice Noonan          

• Volunteers weekly as Technical official for CHA
• Mentors and trains technical officials within CHA
• Technical official during the U18 HA Nationals and Masters Women Nationals tournaments in Cairns

Paul Hardie

Paul is a long time Technical Official and Technical Judge.

In 2022, Paul has been the go-to Technical Official in Ipswich. He often techs multiple games a weekend, and often games that require leadership and direction.

Paul is always happy to assist anyone that requires mentoring, and is helping bring-along many new technical officials in Ipswich.

Paul is on the Technical Committee for Ipswich Hockey, and is also the Vice President of Hancock Brothers Hockey Club.

On top of the technical skills that Paul possesses, it is also a very enjoyable game when acting on the tech bench with Paul - he makes it a fun environment which is essential when participating in sport, no matter what the role you are playing.

Since 2018 (and probably much further back) Paul has been a TO at the below events:

- U18M x4

- U15M x3

- U13G x5

- Masters Women x7

- Many Masters Men’s tournaments

Paul is the QLD Masters Men Secretary, as well as regularly taking on the role as Medic at Masters Men's State and National Championships.

Sonya Fisher

The work that Sonya undertakes at BWHA, Queensland and Australian level cannot be under-estimated. In Brisbane she is the Chair of the BWHA Umpire and Technical Committee who provide training, mentoring and development of Technical Officials for our competitions. In recent years the number of BWHA Officials gaining higher accreditation has increased significantly and the profile of Technical Officials has increased accordingly. Sonya also regularly acts as a Technical Official on BWHA fixtures, Tournament Directors at HQ State Championships and at National Championships.  Her passion and drive for Technical Officiating has seen the growth and development of a recognised pathway for Brisbane Technical Officials through the accreditation system.

Sue Achilles

Sue Achilles is one of the most versatile volunteers that THA has.  Sue is always willing to help in any capacity however her work as a Technical Official is an absolute stand out.  On most weekends you will find Sue’s name on the Tech Official list and often across multiple days to assist the association to fill all of the technical official roles.  Sue has also represented Toowoomba at 2 state championships this year - Masters and U18 Boys. At these tournaments Sue has been successful in renewing her Level 1 Technical Official Qualifications and has commenced her level 2.  Sue is well respected within the Toowoomba and Hockey Queensland technical community and is also active in assisting newer TO’s to increase their capability and confidence.  Sue always has a smile and approaches all situations with common sense and solution focused to ensure the best outcome for players and officials.   Due to Sue’s contributions throughout the year and the high quality of her

​​​​​Cairns Hockey Association

In 2022 Cairns Hockey Association (CHA) has seen a 4.1% increase in member numbers through a variety of programs including but not limited to Sporting Schools, After School Programs, Development Programs, and Hookin2Hockey programs. Moreover, CHA engaged with Atherton Hockey to run a few clinics with Atherton Hockey Association and also with Peninsula Sport to run come and try's in Cairns and Innisfail. During the winter season CHA ran multiple awareness days such as the pride round, breast cancer awareness round, men's round and so forth.  CHA also introduced a D-grade non club competition for mums and other 18+ year olds who have not played hockey before to get a taster and learn to play before signing up for clubs in the following season. Throughout the year CHA further ran social hockey to engage to further community which included Social 6's during every term, Walking Hockey, and annual Primary and Secondary School Gala Days. CHA further engaged with the Cairns community with running its Aspire to Be Deadly Program and also being involved with multiple All Abilities days. CHA introduced the #REPRESENT Blue Academy and the #REPRESENT Gold Academy. The #REPRESENT Academy was designed and developed for athletes to get further training and development in their pursuit to Represent Cairns Hockey and ultimately Queensland Hockey. The Blue Academy is the development level academy that saw 37 U13 Players and a further 19 U16 players participate. The Gold Academy is for performance purposes with 29 athletes participating between U13 - U18 age groups. These Academies made use of 10 coaches to help their own coaching abilities and also help develop these athletes. One of these coaches coached for HQ in U18 Nationals Championship, 6 coached CHA rep teams, and the rest were either further involved in coaching their Club’s A grade or other club teams. CHA also introduced its Hockey Heroes Program for U8 and U10’s. This program was intended to help develop the coaches of U8 and U10 club teams to start coaching the same techniques and the use of same language. This was both implanted to develop young coaches but also improve the learning experience for U8 and U10 members. Throughout the year CHA has strived to implement more professionalism and improve the Cairns Culture to be more inclusive and to give back.

Ipswich Hockey Association

Hosting 4 major championships, implementing many new programs and initiatives, welcoming new staff and volunteers, while also dealing with challenges front-on!

In 2022, there has been a push to be more visionary, and community & people focussed. We are raising the standard of both on-field performance, as well as off-field process, efficiency, and response to adversity. We are solving problems head-on with proactive leadership by good people, while educating and developing our people to do and be better in all facets of the organisation.

The new initiatives are the first steps in a journey to take Ipswich back to winning State Championships and producing elite athletes. Junior Kickers program is the first steps towards producing great goalkeepers. The Penalty Corner Specialty Skills Program will put us ahead of our opposition and improve the quality of our competitions. The Ipswich Playstyle and Keys to Success documents will ensure our teams are consistent in their approach. We are striving for excellence.

Off-field we have made conscious effort to educate our players, officials, parents and spectators to understand our expectations - we will be humble, we will be respectful, we will show leadership on and off the field, we will be better.

Kedron Wavell Services Hockey Club - Wolf Cup

The Wolf Cup is a Super 9’s style tournament hosted by Kedron Wavell Hockey Club, for U/18 girls, attracting clubs from around SEQ.

The Wolf Cup allows:

• clubs to attend with teams of girls with varying skill levels in a carnival type structure;
  • teenage girls to play for enjoyment and friendship.

We are also pursuing broader goals:

To grow and support girls in sport:

• • one in two Australian girls quit sport by the age of 15.
  • Evidence that 50 percent of girls move away from their favourite sport, or completely stop, compared to 30 percent of boys.
  • between ages 11 to 17 – girls play nearly an hour less sport per week than teenage boys

To promote the health of girls

• • studies show a strong link between sport, the physical benefits of being active and supports mental health, by boosting confidence in teenage girls and women.

To promote Hockey, by providing an event that is attractive to sponsors and can be promoted to politicians and other people of influence:

• • despite Australia’s national hockey men and women’s teams being ranked #1 and #3 in the world respectively, it is one of the poorest sports in Australia, particularly at grass roots level. With no televised national league, the sport of hockey does not have the same grass roots funding flowing from TV rights that the other sports do.

Toowoomba Open Women’s 2022 State Champions

The #TeamQLD is all about embracing positive values, respect for yourself and others including other teams, umpires, and technical officials, have a positive sportsmanship, be supportive and be united.  The Toowoomba Opens Women team embodied every aspect of this.

From the first day of trials, to the final whistle of the grand final; this team never had their backs against the wall.  Two coaches withdraw due to personal reasons, they had 15 players including two goal keepers, one of which took the field as a field player in the grand final, and a one broken toe during the tournament.   In true Queensland spirit, the team always believed they could do it.  They believed in each other and played for everyone on the field and for those who couldn’t take the field due to injuries.  The team culture was positive and always uplifting. Even if things didn’t go their way, they rallied around each other and were supportive.

Hockey is both a physically and mentally demanding sport.  The Toowoomba Open Women’s team were up to the challenge and never took a step backwards.  From having the oldest playing member (and co-captain) in the entire tournament, to having some of the youngest eligible players playing.  This group didn’t care about numbers and were united from day 1, with team walks, ice baths, and team breakfasts all playing a huge role in the group mentality both on and off the field.

The management staff were just as diligent as the playing group.  The assistant coach assisted both men and women.  He also decided water glasses, tea cups and wine glasses were the best way of explaining structures.  Whatever works right? Right?

All of the little things added up to what would turn in to a fantastic grand final and resulting in a win for the Toowoomba Open Women’s team. From new structures, goalies playing on the field as field players, and to player of the final; Toowoomba Hockey Association would proudly like to nominate the Toowoomba Open Women’s team as #TeamQLD team of the Year for 2022.

Townsville Hockey Association

Townsville Hockey Association has been steadily growing in strength and numbers since the 2019 floods. The 2019 floods, followed by the COVID pandemic, took both an emotional and financial toll on THA players, volunteers, members, and the wider hockey community, with record low numbers of players and participants. The association weathered this period drawing on the good will and kindness of the Townsville hockey community to rebuild our fields and keep the spirit of hockey alive.

It is with a great sense of pride and achievement, THA can confidently say that through dedicated board members and a refreshed and positive outlook to facility management, junior development programs and dedication from volunteers, that THA has created a positive culture for growth.

THA have demonstrated a commitment to developing umpires and technical officials within our Officiating academy. Annual club and association level awards recognising the commitment to the TeamQld mentality has seen the increase in volunteers and positive atmosphere association wide.    

THA is committed to further improving the ‘Hockey Experience’ for all members in 2023.

​​​​​​

Dr Karin Walduck

Karin Walduck holds many roles across hockey, from club player to BWHA & HBI President, BHMG Board member and HQ Masters Secretary. And while Karin is well known for her commitment to the administration and management of our sport, she is also the person in the background doing all the small unnoticed jobs to keep hockey moving. Following the floods that devastated BWHA in Feb/March she has come weekly to clean equipment and facilities of the mud that lingers. With so much damage under the clubhouse it was not possible to employ our commercial cleaners weekly, so Karin took on that role for the entire season cleaning the toilets and walls each week, emptying the waste and recycling bins. At the U11 Southern Cross she cooked chips in our makeshift canteen area all day. No job is ever too small or too large, she is happy to assist where needed, lend an ear to assist people and work tirelessly to make peoples hockey experience as good as it can be. Karin always fosters a positive culture for our sport and makes it inclusive for all through her Communication, Unity, Discipline, Work Ethic, Leadership and Resilience. Karin is the best example of excellence in our sport.

Ian Mackinder

Ian was the recipient of the Spirit of Redlands Outstanding Service Award this year. Some of the criteria includes:

• • outstanding commitment, guidance, and support to members of RHA
  • ability to motivate and inspire other Redlands Hockey members
  • volunteers or assists with mentoring, umpiring, coaching
  • helps to set up and pack up at the end of the day
  • helps to maintain equipment
  • commitment to various sub committees
  • demonstrated commitment to player / umpire / coach development
  • promotes a healthy culture to ensure a fair, safe and inclusive environment for all members

Ian Mackinder has each member’s best interest at heart, to make each game day happen safely and with enjoyment.  And it’s not just on the field you will see Ian setting up, or playing, or umpiring, or mentoring a junior umpire, or stepping in to coach rep teams.  Behind the scenes Ian is the IT guru that coordinates the registrations, creates the competition rounds, runs the website and assists with scorecard entries.  Ian is a wealth of knowledge all things hockey and is a true asset to RHA."

Jennifer Shannon

Worked tirelessly as the Secondary Coordinator for Saints Hockey Club, which included the club manager for all U14 to Senior teams. She further help coordinate the South Side Hockey Heroes program for CHA, and help coordinate D grade hockey as an introduction for ladies above the age of 18 years old to play hockey for the first time. She temporarily stepped in as Competitions Advisory Member when the previous club member withdrew. She volunteered as a manager for a CHA rep U13 team. She never shied away to help organise parents or players at rep trials or trainings. Jen always tries to find ways to make life easier for her own members and communicates to her club members in a very positive and professional matter.

Sarah Monk

Sarah Monk is one of the most valued members of the Warwick Hockey Association.

Sarah is the Current Junior Coordinator and has this year taken on the challenge of getting into schools to promote hockey. Sarah was instrumental in boosting the team numbers in the primary school competition. She is also a junior coach and Warwick rep team coach.

Sarah has an infectious love of hockey, and the kids really respond to the fun way she promotes the sport. She makes hockey fun and encourages kids to always do their best, no matter the score line.

Sarah was the driver of our social competition for 2022. Encouraging new players to come and play hockey, also encouraging our junior players on the verge of senior competition to play to gain confidence for the next step in their hockey experience.

Sarah plays hockey in our women’s competition, social competition, open women’s team. Sarah is also takes on the job of umpire on a weekly basis. Sarah is always positive and plays the game in the best spirit, loving to have a laugh on the field at the same time as encouraging players to improve and play to their best of their ability.

Steve Profke

Steve has made major contributions to Ipswich Hockey, Ipswich Indoor Hockey, and Norths Hockey Club over a very long period of time.

Steve has coached and managed many Ipswich representative teams, he has been involved with multiple representative outdoor and indoor teams every year since at least 2010. Even as manager, Steve often takes on training sessions when the coach is unavailable, or will take on part of the group and act as both a coach and manager.

Steve has sat on many Ipswich Hockey and Ipswich Indoor Hockey committees. Steve is currently: VP for Norths Hockey club; on the IHA Representative Appointments Panel; on the IHA Technical Committee; on the Ipswich Indoor Committee; Manager/sometimes Coach of the Ipswich Under 18 Men; fill-in Manager for Ipswich Under 13 girls and Under 15 Girls; Coach of Norths A Grade Men.

On top of all of this, Steve is always willing to pick-up the phone, or send an email or text, to find out what is happening and where he can help. He doesn't hide when times get tough, he gets straight onto solving any problem in front of him, with high level of care for the people around him.