2025 A Year In Review
Published Tue 09 Dec 2025
Another huge year for hockey in Queensland, with our community celebrating many milestones, achievements, and successes!
Come with us as we look back at the year that was, month by month, with just a few highlights from each one.
Enjoy a small snippet of what our Queenslanders got up to during 2025.
THE YEAR THAT WAS | January
✨ - Hockey Queensland (HQ) and Hockey Australia (HA) jointly submitted to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games 100 Day Review, addressing the venue requirements for hockey at the Games.
✨ - The Australian Indoor Championships were held in December 2024 and January 2025 in Canberra, ACT. The U21 and U18 Women finished with Gold; Open Women, U21 Men, U16 Girls and U16 Boys finished with Silver; and U18 Men and U14 Girls Flare finished with Bronze.
✨ - The U18 Academy Men hosted Japan's U18 National Team in a 5 game series at the State Hockey Centre.
✨ - 9 Queenslanders competed for the Burras and Jillaroos at U21 Oceania World Cup Qualifiers in New Zealand.
✨ - Hockey Australia and Hockey Queensland launched the Hookin2Hockey Schools Teacher Ambassador Program
THE YEAR THAT WAS | February
✨ - Mitch Nicholson, Morgan Mathison, and Jade Smith debuted in Sydney, in front of a home crowd, cheered on by friends and family whilst Ruby Harris and Karissa van der Wath debuted for the Hockeyroos in Argentina.
✨ - Lynn Cowie-McAlister was an Umpire Manager for the FIH Pro League, and Tara Leonard (Wood) umpired in India for the FIH Pro League.
✨ - The Australian National Indoor hockey teams competed at the 2025 Indoor World Cup in Croatia - Eden Jacket, Annelyse Tevant and Ella White. Men's Head Coach - Brett Herrington and Men's Team Manager Cath Riggs
✨ - U16 and U21 State Team Trials were held and teams selected
✨ - Angie Lambert OAM OLY appointed as Women’s High Performance Head Coach
✨ - Face Masks for Penalty Corners become mandatory
✨ - Matt Wells joined the Kookaburras as Assistant Coach for the Argentina Pro League leg.
✨ - Hookin2Hockey Schools Guide released
THE YEAR THAT WAS | March
✨ - The 2025 Kookaburras were named as Tim Howard, Joel Rintala, Corey Weyer
✨ - 2025 National Men’s Development Squad announced with Jayden Atkinson, Mitch Nicholson, Hayden Pease, Daykin Stanger named
✨ - Hookin2Hockey Coordinator Forum hosted
✨ - The Queensland U21 Men's Team were named for May
✨ - Gold Coast Named as 2032 Olympic Hockey Venue
✨ - FREE United Sports Webinar hosted - From Pre-Season to Peak Performance
THE YEAR THAT WAS | April
✨ - We hosted the inaugural PFoH Champions Trophy Shootout between the press gallery and the MPs at Parliament House, where the MPs were victorious with some impressive goals!
✨ - The U16 National Championships concluded in Adelaide with the Maroon Girls finishing the tournament undefeated and as National Champions for the 4th consecutive year! The Maroon boys had a tough loss in the Bronze medal match finishing 4th overall.
✨ - The Chemist Warehouse U18 State Championships wrapped up on Monday, with the Men’s event hosted in Cairns and the Women’s event in Townsville. In the Women’s event, the Division 1 Final saw Brisbane 1 defeat Cairns 1 4 – 0, while Tweed finished winners of Division 2. Toowoomba 1 beat Brisbane 1 in the Men’s Division 1 Final, and Rockhampton defeated Sunshine Coast to win Division 2.
✨ - The Queensland U18 Teams heading to Nationals were selected.
✨ - Australia Practice Match Series for the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras saw 11 Queenslanders invited to compete against Malaysia and India.
✨ - Junior Blaze clinics were hosted in the school holidays
THE YEAR THAT WAS | May
✨ - Hockey Tweed hosted the Men’s Masters State Championships over the May long weekend with 32 teams from across the State competing in the 34, 45 and 55 age divisions.
✨ - The U21 National Championships concluded in Bendigo with the Women bringing home Silver and the Men’s team placing 5th after going to a shoot-out in their final game.
✨ - The HQC was played at the State Hockey Centre. In the Men, Tweed met Bundaberg in the Division 2 Final, where Bundaberg opened the scoring in the first quarter. But it was all Tweed’s way scoring 4 consecutive goals, and even a last minute surge from Bundaberg was too late with Tweed winning 5 – 3. Brisbane Blaze’s Kyle Jeffrey-Prestwich scored 2 of the 5 goals.
In the Women, in the Grand Final Gold Coast came out strong, and a final quarter penalty stroke and conversion weren’t enough for Maryborough to come back.
✨ - Queensland Country Teams were selected to compete in August
✨ - We announced our newest Life Member & Distinguished Service Award recipients Life Membership – Kathy Rogers and Distinguished Service Award - Darryl Gillam
✨ - 12 Queenslanders went to the Gold Coast for the Hockey Australia U18 Futures Camp.
✨ - Australian U21 Jillaroos and Burras Squads were named
✨ - Queensland had a huge contingent that represented Australia in the 2025 Trans-Tasman Masters Challenge.
THE YEAR THAT WAS | June
✨ - Brisbane Blaze Initial Squads were named, the fixture was announced and memberships were opened
✨ - Aleisha Neumann umpired her 100th International Match (Golden Whistle) at the Men's Pro League in Belgium between Belgium and Spain.
✨ - Hockey Queensland had the pleasure of joining the ACHPER Queensland Conference to deliver practical hockey workshops to over 50 teachers!
✨ - Karin Walduck received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) as part of this year’s King's Birthday honours, for her service to hockey.
✨ - The State Hockey Centre had live streaming and security cameras installed.
✨ - The Women's Masters State Teams were named for 2025
✨ - The initial Queensland U21 Squads for 2025 / 26 were named following the Hockey Queensland Championship.
✨ - The Hockey Queensland Women’s Masters State Championships was another huge success with teams competing in Cairns.
✨ - Gary Marsh and Jim Mason were announced as recipients of a Hockey Australia Life Membership and Award of Merit respectfully.
✨ - Ipswich Hockey ran their Hin2H Community Hockey Heroes Program
THE YEAR THAT WAS | July
✨ - Chemist Warehouse U14 Girls State Championships was held in Toowoomba with 25 teams competing, the Chemist Warehouse U14 Boys were held in Rockhampton with 21 teams.
✨ - U14 State Team were named from the Chemist Warehouse U14 State Championships who went on to compete in Brisbane coinciding with the first Brisbane Blaze home game in October.
✨ - The U18 National Championships concluded in Perth with the Maroon Men crowned National Champions and the Maroon Women bringing home Bronze. From this event, the Australian U18 Futures Squads were named
✨ - Jamie-Lee Surha debuted for the Hockeyoos
✨ - Metro Ford and Hockey Queensland celebrated the continued strength of the partnership.
✨ - Rockhampton Hockey spent two weeks engaging with students at Ridgelands State School, located roughly 30 minutes outside of Rockhampton.
✨ - The new FIH Umpire Testing system was brought in, and fitness tests took place in Gold Coast, Ipswich, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Gladstone, Townsville and Cairns.
✨ - Blaze game tickets went on sale
THE YEAR THAT WAS | August
✨ - QLD Sport and Rec interviewed Steve Rogers on his FIH Umpire of the Year and QSport Konica Minolta 2024 Queensland Sport Official of the Year Awards.
✨ - The Australian Country Championships concluded in Rockhampton with the Women crowned National Champions and the Men bringing home Silver.
✨ - The Australian Country Representative Teams were named. Upcoming tours include: Under 21 Men’s and Women’s Teams – touring Jakarta, Bandung, and Surabaya (Indonesia) in December 2025. Open Men’s and Women’s Teams – touring Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, and Penang (Malaysia) in April 2026.
✨ - Applications opened for the third year of the Hockey Queensland TAFE at School program
✨ - Kookaburras and Hockeyroos named in the Oceania Cup teams to play against New Zealand.
✨ - Tom Campbell, Noah Fahy, Matt Hawthorne, and Daykin Stanger were named in the Burras team for the Sultan of Johor Cup in October.
THE YEAR THAT WAS | September
✨ - Thanks to Macquarie Sports, Hockey Queensland was able to offer two free hockey clinics in September to schools in the Logan and Maryborough areas.
✨ - The Chemist Warehouse Hockey Queensland U16 State Championships wrapped up the last of the field hockey State Championships for 2025. The boys competed in Brisbane with 21 teams across 3 divisions. The girls was played at the Gold Coast with 25 teams across 3 divisions.
✨ - The U16 Squads were selected. They will meet in February 2026 for trials, where final teams will be named for the U16 Australian Championships.
✨ - Nominations from Association delegates opened for the 2025 Annual Community Awards.
✨ - The Australian Masters Championships began
THE YEAR THAT WAS | October
✨ - The Brisbane Blaze hosted two of the three home games, with a new attendance record in Round 1!
✨ - Hockey Queensland and Easts Hockey Club proudly hosted the U14 National Championships, with 144 matches over 7 action packed days. Results were: Gold - Queensland Embers, Silver - Queensland Sabres, Bronze - Queensland Cinders and 7th - Queensland Cutters. The event coincided with the first Brisbane Blaze home game of the season.
✨ - 12 Queenslanders were appointed as Officials in the One Active Hockey One League. Blake Kroning made his Hockey One debut as an umpire.
✨ - Hockey was on The Today Show nationally
✨ -The Blaze hosted the first Launch breakfast for sponsors, media and other important supporters
✨ - The 2025 Hockey Queensland Open / U21 Indoor State Championships opened the 2025 Indoor State Championships season. Hosted in Toowoomba, 18 teams competed across 1 Women's and 2 Men's divisions.
✨ - U18 Women’s and U18 Men’s Indoor State Championships wrapped up in Maryborough over two weekends. The U16 Girls State Championships was hosted by South Brisbane Vipers.
✨ - Open (M&W), U21(M&W), U18 (M&W), and U16 (W) Indoor State Teams were named
✨ - The Australian U21 Men Burras took out the 2025 Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia. Queenslanders Tom Campbell, Matt Hawthorne, Noah Fahy and Daykin Stanger played. Team staff included Mark Knowles, Christian Bourke and Josh Mynott
✨ - The Men’s Masters National Championships saw 22 Queensland teams bring home 10 medals from Newcastle
✨ - The Queensland Women’s Masters teams came away from Hobart after another fun and exciting tournament. Queensland won the Champion State trophy with 5 Gold Medals across 11 teams.
✨ - Hockey Queensland proudly partnered with TAFE Queensland to deliver two nationally recognised qualifications as part of Australia’s first Sports Diploma Hub.
✨ - Queensland was strongly represented at the Hockey Australia FIH Academy, with Amy Ryan and Kerry Liebenberg participating as Trainee Trainers, and Jordyn Wilson, Tinesha Carey, and Sonya Fisher taking part as Educator participants.
THE YEAR THAT WAS | November
✨ -We held the Hockey Queensland Annual Awards Dinner and celebrated the year that was on and off the pitch in Queensland. Matt Gohdes, Matt Swann and Mark Knowles were inducted into the Hall of Fame
✨ - Jake Whetton played his 100th game for Queensland
✨ - Our Academy athletes travelled to Malaysia to play in the Mirnawan Cup.
✨ - Brisbane Blaze Men finished 4th and the Women finished 7th in the ONE Active Hockey One League
✨ - Aleisha Neumann was appointed to umpire the Men's Grand Final between HC Melbourne and Tassie Tigers.
✨ - The remaining the Indoor State Championships were held, Under 14 Boys and U14 Girls in Mackay, Masters Challenge and U16 Boys in Maryborough.
✨ - U16 Boys, U14 Boys, and U14 Girls Indoor State Teams were named
✨ - Hockey Queensland was able to offer two free ‘Hookin2Hockey Heroes Tour’ clinics in November. They were hosted by Ipswich Hockey Association and Pine Hills Hockey Club (Brisbane Hockey Association).
✨ - Hockey Queensland and Brisbane Blaze announced a partnership with The Advertising Works
✨ - The Queensland U16 Maroon Girls Hockey Team was named at the QSport Awards as the Sports Accounting Australia 2025 Queensland Junior Sport Team of the Year!
✨ - We celebrated the following being inducted into the Hockey Australia Hall of Fame; Hope Jobe (née Munro / Brown), Jodie Kenny (née Shultz), Troy Elder and Nathan Eglington
✨ - Australia’s under-21 men’s hockey team — the Burras —announced their squad and began their campaign for the 2025 FIH Junior World Cup, Chennai, India from 20th November to 12th December. Noah Fahy, Matthew Hawthorne, and Daykin Stanger competed, and Tom Campbell was a non-travelling reserve.
