Mother/daughter trio were found at the Nationals in Gold Coast this year. Sonja Noonan being a player, Janice Noonan a technical official and Katrina Noonan an umpire.

Sonja started playing hockey at the age of 10 along with many of her friends. She has been involved ever since in many different roles and still has a strong involvement. Her two sisters play in Brisbane and she has aunties and cousins that play in Cairns with her. Her dad played for many years and represented Queensland on many occasions. Her mother (Janice) played socially when she was younger and is currently employed by Cairns Hockey as well as having an interest as part of the Officials Committee. Sonja’s children and her nephews also play hockey in the Junior divisions.

She is currently a board member of the Cairns Hockey Association as well as plays and umpires for her local club – Souths Hockey Club. Being involved at all levels of Hockey, Sonja has held the positions of president, vice president and treasurer of her local club. Other positions she has held are – umpires co-ordinator at both junior and senior levels for Cairns Hockey Association, Coached Club and Cairns teams, Managed Club and Cairns and Queensland (Indoor) teams, umpired at local state and national levels, played outdoor and indoor hockey at local, state and national levels.

Souths Hockey Club have awarded Sonja the club member of the year and Coach of the year. She has had many great experiences with hockey over the years from coaching, managing, umpiring and playing. Her best experience would have to be at the recent Women’s Masters National Championships on the Gold Coast. Winning the gold medal with a great bunch of ladies and being able to share this experience with her Mum (Janice) and her sister (Katrina) is something she will never forget. She is hoping for many more great experiences like this in the future.

Janice’s first involvement with hockey was at school where she played in the school team junior competition with her two sisters, continuing to play until she left school. Her mother and father were both strong supporters and spent many weekends taking the family to hockey events. After having a break, Janice and her husband stated to play hockey again. Her daughters started playing when they were about 8 years old and eventually, she played in the social division for a few years.

During this time, she became a member of the Junior Committee and has been actively involved ever since for about 30 years in many different roles. Janice is now employed by her Association.

Her three daughters play hockey, two in Brisbane and one in Cairns (Sonja and Katrina being part of this). Two of her daughters are involved in umpiring as well as playing (Katrina being one of these). Her husband was a strong supporter and was involved as a parent player and coach. He was a player in the Queensland Men’s Masters team for 7 years but has now retired. Many of her extended family have been involved for many years in the hockey community. Both Janice and her husband have coached and managed the teams their daughters have played in.

Janice is a member of the Association’s Officials Committee and has been involved in developing young umpires and technical officials. Positions she has held are school coordinator for her Club, managed and coached both Club and Association teams, and being part of the Association’s Board as Junior Chair. In the last few years she has become involved as a Technical Official at Association and Queensland level. In 2019 she attended the Australian Women’s Masters as a Technical Officer for the first time.

Awards received are Volunteer of the Year and Manager of the Year by Cairns Hockey Association in different years. She has also been awarded a Life Member of Cairns Hockey Association.

Janice has many wonderful experiences in her years with hockey.

• Actively being involved with her children’s sport and seeing their achievements and having the opportunity to travel with them whether it be intercity State championships or overseas
• Coaching/managing other young players
• Great holidays with her husband while he played at Nationals
• Meeting lots of people and making wonderful friends

Probably the best experience was being able to participate in the sport which her family has been so heavily involved with and attending the National Championships with her two daughters. She is hoping the three of them will be able to make it again in the future.

Katrina cannot remember not being involved with hockey. Being the youngest in her family, they were all involved from a young age. It wasn’t an option not to.

She became involved with umpiring as a junior. As players they were expected to umpire, it was part of playing the game. Katrina enjoys umpiring and has been umpiring at State Championships since she was a teenager.
Hockey is a big part of who her family is. Karen (her sister) and Katrina play in the same team in Brisbane now. Katrina has also played in teams with Sonja in Cairns.

The extended family (Aunts, Uncles, Cousins) are involved in hockey as well. They had a family Summer Hockey side for many years. Nanna is the greatest supporter and their team “Beryl’s bunch” is named after her.
Katrina is a player, umpire and committee member (Turf Umpire Coordinator) for her club, Ascot Women’s Hockey Club, in Brisbane. As a player she has played at a club level. She has been the Junior Umpire Coordinator and an Association level in Cairns and umpired at State U13, U15, U18 and Masters Championships. She has also umpired at National Masters Championships.

Awarded Umpire of the Year from Cairns Hockey Association and received the President Award for Umpiring from her club in Brisbane.

Katrina’s best hockey experience so far would be the National Master’s Championships. The opportunity to meet a great bunch of people who share a passion for the sport in a way others avoid as much as possible. Being able to attend a National Championships with her mother (Janice) and sister (Sonja) is an obvious highlight. She is hoping in future years she can get her other sister to nominate and join them as well.