Chair | Peter Billings | juniors@unihockey.org.au |
Secretary | Mariza Jansen van Rensburg | juniors@unihockey.org.au |
Registrar | Katie Patterson | juniors@unihockey.org.au |
Uniform Coordinator | Mariza Jansen van Rensburg | juniors@unihockey.org.au |
Umpire Coordinator | Ruzow Jansen van Rensburg | juniors@unihockey.org.au |
Development Coordinator | Tara Diamond | juniors@unihockey.org.au |
Chair of Selections | Max Diamond | juniors@unihockey.org.au |
Peter Billings (UQHC Junior Chair and U11 Girls Coach)
Peter (‘Billo’) didn’t pick up hockey stick until
he was aged 16 at school, first playing on a muddy fields in the south of
England before transitioning to turf at University in 1992. His love of the
game of hockey has meant that he has now played for over 30 years with three
different teams across England. He started with UQHC in 2010 after he moved to
Brisbane with his family and his wife asked for respite on Sundays. He has
played representative hockey for Brisbane (O35s) and (O40s). He continues to play
senior men’s hockey (BHA) and masters’ hockey for UQ. Billo has a level 1 and
level 2 coaching accreditation. To date he has coached lots of fantastic little
Red Roos: U7s, U9s and U11s. His coaching philosophy is that young kids gain an
understanding of the game and develop skills best through modified forms of
hockey interspersed with entertaining games and via regular reinforcement of
basic skills from an early age into their teens. Perhaps most importantly Billo
wants all his players to wear a smile, be enthusiastic and have fun when
playing.
Alice Chapman (J2 Girls Assistant Coach)
Alice started playing hockey in Tamworth NSW
for the Flames in 2005. Alice joined UQHC in 2018. Alice has holds a Level 1
certificate of accreditation in hockey coaching. Alice will be assistant coach
and team manager for the J2 junior girls this season.
Max Diamond (J2 Boys Coach)
Max Diamond played his junior hockey for Commercial in Townsville. He
made a number of junior state teams and was then offered a place at the
Australian Institute of Sport (Perth) in 1991, where he was a scholarship
holder till 1998. During that time he played for the National u21 team (The
Burras) at the Junior World Cup in Barcelona, where the team won a Bronze
medal. He played for the QLD Senior Men and the Blades for 5 years. He played
31 games for the National team (The Kookaburras). He also played club hockey in
England. Max came to UQHC in 2017 when his children started playing. He has
since coached the u11 and u13 boys, he holds a level 2 coaching certificate and
helps out with the Division 1 men.
Tara Diamond (Junior Development Coordinator)
Tara comes from a hockey family so she isn’t able to recall the exact
age she started playing. Growing up in Townsville, she represented Townsville
from a young age and this fostered a healthy rivalry against Cairns and
Brisbane. Anyone from a Queensland regional area knows that everyone backs
whichever team is playing against Brisbane! Tara had to get over this rivalry
when she moved to Brisbane and played hockey as a junior for Brisbane and
Queensland (outdoor and indoor). She played Div 1 and Div 2 (Easts) hockey in
Brisbane and whilst at University studying to be a PE teacher got her first
paid gig as a hockey coach for Somerville House. Tara continued to play and
coach in Sydney and the United Kingdom and commenced coaching at UQHC in 2018.
Relinquishing a coaching position in 2021 to focus on junior development for
all our junior Red Roos. Tara is passionate about team sport participation,
providing an inclusive, enjoyable and challenging skill development environment
for juniors. Tara continues to play hockey and feels privileged to play at UQHC
where, in the summer comp, gets to take the field with her children, nephews,
nieces, brother and sister.
Sarah Hannam (J2 Girls Coach)
Sarah started playing hockey aged seven years
old with a skills coach Glad Cole, and then played for Fernridge School in New
Zealand. She represented the Wairarapa province U15, U18s and the NZ Army and
NZDF. Sarah started playing at the UQHC club six years ago. She has coached
senior women at the club across several divisions as well as junior girls. She
currently plays in BWHA Div 3.
Sam Howitt (U13 Girls Coach)
Sam grew up in Canberra
and started playing for Central Hockey Club in their under 7’s Minkey side. She
played seniors alongside juniors from 14 and just couldn’t get enough of
hockey, throwing some ACT junior rep into the mix! After taking some time off
while living overseas, Sam moved to Brisbane for university in 2018 joining the
Red Roos as a player and coach. Sam coached UQHC under 9’s then followed the
great bunch of girls to 11’s with the ever-wonderful Jill Toppenberg. Working
in childcare while at university, Sam really enjoys coaching juniors, as it is
a time for players to develop new skills and game awareness, get active and
make great friendships! Sam understands players can have multiple passions that
sometimes clash and will try help work around it… See below an example of a
junior Sam dolled up for a hockey semifinal at 9am and a dance
competition at 10!
Louise Ford (J4 Girls Coach)
Lou has been playing
hockey since she was 6 years of age and has played in representative teams (pictured below) and
at a Division 1 level. She then took 15 years away from sport whilst
working, living abroad, and starting a family. It was only when her
daughter joined UQHC she experienced the itch to come back and play hockey
again and coach at a junior hockey level.
Since she started playing again Louise, she has gone onto represent
Brisbane, ACT and Queensland for Masters, and now has been coaching juniors at
UQHC for the last 5 years. Louise is excited to give back to the same
sport that has had such a positive impact on her life and her coaching philosophy
is to create not only well-balanced hockey players and teammates but instil a
strong work ethic, commitment to goal setting and a respect for the game.
Kylie O’Donohue (U13
Girls Coach)
Kylie (pictured below (right) with fellow UQHC
coach/player Sarah Walton) is a senior player from BWHA Division 2 and has been
playing hockey for 28 years. Kylie has two daughters aged 9 and 10 that also
play hockey. She has represented
Brisbane and Met East in her childhood years, and more recently Queensland and
Australia masters. She has been coaching hockey on and off for 17 years from
U7s up to seniors, plus U15 Brisbane. Kylie’s coaching philosophy is that
anyone can learn any skill given the correct focus and time. She enjoys
figuring out the unique qualities of each player and how to help them achieve
their personal goals with hockey. Kylie loves how team sport teaches kids how
to collaborate and work together towards a common goal. She believes that it is
in this space that juniors will enjoy have the most fun and find their love of
hockey.
Ashleigh Neill (U11 Girls Coach)
Ash (pictured below) has been involved
with hockey for 15 years and loved every second on the field. Ash has been
selected in representative teams since being a little U13 player all the way
through to U18’s. She has been involved with coaching juniors for three years it
is by far one of her favourite things. Watching the juniors grow as players and
how they get so excited when they score a goal or win a game is so rewarding. 2021
is Ash’s first year at UQHC both playing and coaching, and she is so excited to
take on this journey and is super keen to be with her new hockey family.
Felicity Poad (U9s Coach)
Felicity ‘Flick’ Poad (pictured below)
has been working with kids for as long as she has been playing hockey... 20
plus years. Her experience and enthusiasm come together on the field to make
learning hockey basics fun for some of our younger players. Flick has been
a volunteer with the club since she and her family moved to Brisbane in 2016
and she can answer many of your hockey-related questions.
Andrew Price(U13T1 Girls Coach)
Andrew (pictured below mixing it with Easts)
has been playing hockey for nearly 40 years and has Level 1 coaching
accreditation. He has been a passionate member of UQHC for the past 20 years,
playing both Masters and BHL divisions and is a member of the executive. At
university he was a division 1 player and state equivalent representative.
Andrew’s daughter has been playing for UQHC since she was 7 and is currently in
the U13 squad. Andrew is also a chartered accountant and has been the Chief
Financial Officer of ASX listed energy and resource companies.
Brett Smith (U9s Coach)
Brett has been a member of UQHC joining the
men's club in 2001 after relocating to Brisbane from Northern Queensland.
Brett's love of hockey started in 1984 as a 5-year-old and represented Mackay /
Capricornia throughout his teenage years at State Championships level. In 2005
Brett was elected to the men's executive as Vice President, and in 2006 was
elected as the President and held that position until 2008. During Brett's time
as President, he was awarded the UQ Sport Administrator of the Year in 2006.
Brett has completed a Level 1 Coaching course and has been assisting with the
U7/U9 teams since 2019.
Matt Stockwell (J3 Boys Coach)
Matt first joined the UQHC in 1995 and helped
the club return its Mens team to Div 1 in 1996. Prior to this Matt played in
country Qld and WA in representative roles including a start-up Central
Queensland team that was eying entry to the National Hockey League. After a
break from hockey he returned to play with old UQ friends in Division 3, 4,
Masters and enjoyed QLD selection after winning an o40 Qld State Titles. Over
recent years Matt has moved onto coaching to support his children who enjoy
hockey. With Shawn Hopkins he has been coaching a junior UQ Indoor Hockey team
and they will now take a role coaching UQ’s new J3 junior boys’ team. Matt has
completed a Level 1 coaching course. Matt also brings unique skills to coaching
gained through more than 10 years of sport & athlete management roles in TV
and major action sports events including 2005 WWA World Wakeboarding
Championship and 2004-6 Gravity Games H20 events.
Jill Toppenberg (U11 Boys Coach)
Jill’s family has been a part of UQ Junior
Hockey since its conception in 2015 when her daughter played in the U9
Competition. Having played hockey for
many years and being a teacher made it easy for her to volunteer to coach the
younger teams. For Jill it has been an
absolute joy to coach teams from U9’s to U13’s over the past few years –even
getting a couple of Grand Finals under our belt. In 2021 Jill is co-coaching
the U11 boys with the fabulous Luke McPhail – back to the grass where her
hockey roots lie!
Noreen Walton (J1 Girls Coach)
‘Nors’ started playing
when her family moved to Cairns when she was 10, and has played ever
since. You may not have that many
fingers to count! Nors loves the game. Nors has represented Queensland and
Australia since 1996 in Masters. She has a Level 2 Coaching accreditation and
Level 1 umpiring accreditation (and old State B badge). Besides hockey, Nors
keeps busy looking after her family – six children and 7
grandchildren!
Nors is pictured below with her daugher Sarah (also a UQHC Junior Coach and Austalian
rep player) and two of her grandchildren Mia and Emily).
Sarah Walton (U7 and U11 Girls Coach)
Sarah started playing hockey at a young age;
she was coached very strictly on basic skills by hockey royalty – Nors (her
mum). So Sarah does like to practice and practice basic skills with her
teams and impart her "3 secrets to hockey" to her team members. Sarah
is mum to Emily (5) and Mia (9) (pictured above) who have been playing with UQ
for the past two and three years respectively. Sarah has played with UQ for
over 10 years, and most recently returned to play for the Red Roos in timely
fashion to play with the back-to-back div 2 premiers. Sarah’s representative
career highlight was playing for Australia O35s at the Gold Coast trans-Tasman
in 2019, and having her family cheer the team on to bring home the gold.
Beth Westmore (U11 Girls Coach)
Beth (pictured below, with her sizeable fan
club) started playing hockey when she was seven years old as a ‘Minkey’. Growing
up in Sydney she played juniors for Ryde Hunters Hill HC. Beth has been a Red
Roo since 2014 and has played in two Premiership winning teams in Division 2 of
the BWHA senior women’s competition (2019-20). Beth absolutely loves coaching
little Red Roos and has spent the last few years coaching the mighty U7s and
the Premiership winning U11 Girls (2020). Beth loves a sneaky jab tackle, is a
big fan of lollies, UQ hair accessories and ‘stuck in the mud’ warm ups before
training.