Five added to Hockey Australia Hall of Fame
Published Wed 23 Oct 2019
Last weekend a host of Australia’s hockey greats became the latest inductees into the Hockey Australia Hall of Fame.
Ena McRae, Pat Nilan and Des Spackman were each inducted into the Hall of Fame during a presentation at last Sunday’s Sultana Bran Hockey One League double header between the NSW Pride and HC Melbourne in Sydney.
Hockey Australia CEO Matt Favier made the presentations to both Nilan and Spackman, while McRae was represented by her daughter Annena Stewart who accepted the honour on her mother’s behalf.
Olga Corrigan and Tory Wicks, who have both passed away, were also inducted but not represented on the day.
These latest inductions take the total number of members in the Hockey Australia Hall of Fame to 51.
The accolade is awarded to Australian players or officials who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in hockey at the highest level.
Another special recognition took place in Canberra at the double header between Canberra Chill and Tassie Tigers with Graham Carter presented a Hockey Australia Award of Merit.
Graham Carter is considered somewhat of a visionary in the promotion of hockey in Australia, but particularly the ACT, for over three decades.
The Award of Merit is awarded to individuals who have shown dedicated and sustained commitment to the development of hockey in Australia promoting the basic values which underpin the sport.
HOCKEY AUSTRALIA HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES
Ena McRae
Ena represented NSW from 1929 until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.
The 55th player to be capped for Australia, she debuted against Scotland in June 1930 on the team’s first ever international trip.
Capped 25 times and scoring 27 goals for the Hockeyroos, Ena was a pioneer of women’s Hockey in Australia and is an overdue inductee into the Hockey Australia Hall of Fame.
Pat Nilan
Pat debuted in 1961 and made 73 appearances for Australia(scoring 11 goals), his career including three Olympic Games, where he won a Bronze medal in Tokyo 1964 and Silver in Mexico City in 1968.
Pat has been inducted into the NSW Hall of Champions, received an Order of Australia Medal for his services to hockey and also been inducted into the Hockey NSW Hall of Fame.
Hockey Australia is proud to contribute to Pat’s long list of accolades by inducting him into the Hockey Australia Hall of Fame.
Des Spackman
In an era where international caps were few and far between, Des was the 151st player capped for the Kookaburras and made 16 appearances for his country, competing at two Olympic Games.
Des scored his only international goal from the backline at the 1956 Melbourne Games and competed at the Olympics again four years later in Rome.
Inducted into the Hockey NSW Hall of Fame in 2008, Hockey Australia are delighted to induct Des into the Hockey Australia Hall of Fame.
Olga Corrigan (Hampson) (deceased)
A no nonsense defender, Olga was the 124th player capped for her country. She made ten appearances between 1947-1954 which included the 1948 Tour of New Zealand, 1953 Tour of UK + Europe and IFWHA (WC) 1953 Vice-Captain.
Tori Wicks (deceased)
A talented full back, Tori debuted for Australia in a Test Series against England in June 1927 and went on to be capped 21 times for her country. She captained the Hockeyroos in an international tournament against South Africa and the 1930 Tour of Europe, while she also competed in a test against New Zealand. Tori is also an inductee in the Sport Australia and Hockey New South Wales Halls of Fame.
* If you are a relative of Olga or Tori or know of someone associated with either, please get in contact with hockey Australia via ha@hockey.org.au
AWARD OF MERIT
GRAHAM CARTER
Graham has over 30 years experience as a volunteer in sports administration, predominately for Hockey ACT but also with ACTSPORT, of which he was one of the founders, and Community Sport Australia, the national peak industry body which represents 59 sports with over 8 million participants.
Graham was a Director of Hockey ACT for 22 years and President of the Hockey Centre for 20 years. He was instrumental in the development of both the National and Tuggeranong Hockey Centres in the ACT as well as the Canberra Lakes.
Graham has also been successful in lobbying Hockey Australia and the ACT Government for several international matches in the ACT. Graham’s efforts resulted in the ACT hosting a number of international tournaments including the Women’s Champions Trophy in 2005 which on his initiative was televised and broadcast by eight networks to more than 500 million viewers in 93 countries.
In addition to his role as a sports administrator, Graham played over 500 games of club hockey and coached several teams. He led three club tours to Europe, Asia and America. Graham is a Life Member of United Hockey Club and Hockey ACT. His other achievements include an Australian Sports Medal, an OAM for contribution to sport; and recognition by Hockey ACT who named its premier playing surface at Lyneham the ‘Carter Field’. Graham was also inducted into the ACT Sport Hall of Fame in 2015.