Hall of Fame - June Harding (nee Capes)
Published Thu 05 Nov 2020
June Harding was a prolific goal scorer at club, state and international level. She may have only represented her country on 10 occasions but she boasts a formidable goal scoring record.
The WA born product, who was the 172nd capped Hockeyroo, scored 19 times in her 10 internationals between 1957 and 1963. She scored twice in her debut against Ceylon (the British Crown colony of present-day Sri Lanka) in Columbo.
Impressively, June scored four goals in an international match twice, in a 4-1 win over Ireland and then four days later against Canada.
June was a clever player with superior stick work and standout skills that enabled her to thread her way through defences and past goalkeepers. She was the yardstick by which other forwards were measured, as tough as she was skilful, working hard in her position as left inner and an outstanding team player. June was selected for the IFWHA tournament in Amsterdam in 1959, where she was the second highest goal scorer, scoring only one less goal than the leading scorer from England.
She became a Life Member of Fremantle Women’s Hockey Club in 1971. June’s daughters Lee Capes and Michelle Hager were also Australian hockey players and her granddaughter Kaitlin Nobbs is a current Hockeyroo.
June’s induction into the Hockey Australia Hall of Fame was ratified in 2018.
What she said…
“When I came to live in Perth from a little country town in WA as a 16 year old I had no idea of the wonderful experiences I was to have during my hockey career. My proudest moment was when I dressed in my Australian uniform in 1959 to represent my country. Then to be honoured by being put in the Australian Hockey Hall of Fame with all those great hockey players before me was a proud achievement. Many thanks to the Australian Selection Committee for considering me.
I had a lot of help on my journey, mainly my mum and dad who supported me financially for my trips when playing for Australia and they always encouraged me to be the best. Thanks must also go to my coach at Fremantle Ladies Hockey Club, Kay Kolsky (Gruer), who pushed me all the way to be as fit as possible.” June Harding
From those in the know…
“It was joy to be a Fremantle teammate of June. As our left inner, not only did she make the most of every possession but was willing to do the ground work as well, giving 100% every game. It was an honour to have played with such a gifted player.” Wendy Pritchard (former teammate and Hockey Australia Hall of Fame Committee Member)