Kate Jenner - One on One

For a girl from country New South Wales, Kate Jenner’s hockey journey is one of inspiration that you can represent your country in hockey from anywhere.

Born in Mudgee before moving to Tamworth with her parents, older brother and younger sister when she was in kindergarten, Kate loved playing sport.

But it was hockey that particularly took her fancy and despite having no premonitions or expectations of hitting the big time, one thing led to another and she found herself in the national squad simply by playing the game she loved.

Now, over a decade after first playing for the Hockeyroos, KJ (as she is affectionately known) officially retires from international hockey.

Currently residing in Newcastle and working as a Regional Participation Coordinator for Hockey NSW, Kate provides a special insight into her hockey life, the challenges she had to overcome and the life balance she had and still has to have.

Congratulations on your career Kate. What drew you to hockey in the first place?

KJ: “I’m from a family who knew nothing about hockey. Then one day at school one of my friends said, ‘my mum is coaching a hockey team and we need more players – do you want to come and join?’ I played every sport when I was younger so why not add another one. It ended up being the sport I enjoyed the most and made the most friends in, so as the number of sports had to drop off as I got older hockey always stayed.”

There must have been a great hockey community in Tamworth?

KJ: “It wasn’t until I got older that I realised Tamworth was home to a lot of Australian hockey players…Michael York, Kim Small, Des King, Matt Smith, Anne Stevenson. There is a lot of hockey history from Tamworth but when I first stated playing I didn’t care much about it. It wasn’t until I got older that I thought how cool it was to have all of these great players come from Tamworth.”

At what point did it click when you thought you could go somewhere with your hockey?

KJ: “Probably not at all through my teenage years. I got selected in state teams but I didn’t ever think until it happened that it was what I wanted to do or that it could happen. It was more that I had a great time playing and then I realised it was something. I got selected into the Junior World Cup squad and thought, ‘wow what’s this?’.”

As you progressed through the ranks was making the national team never something you genuinely aspired to?

KJ: “It probably happened more organically where I kept getting invited to different things. I got invited to a NSWIS (New South Wales Institute of Sport) session, turned up and trained there and then they asked me if I wanted a scholarship, and I thought ‘sure, whatever that means, I’ll come and train more’.

I wasn’t one of those people from a young age that had posters on the wall telling myself that I wanted to play for Australia one day. When I first started playing I didn’t even know you could play for Australia. I was playing on grass so I didn’t know there was an Australian team. It wasn’t until an Olympics came around and I saw these athletes were playing the sport I was playing. My parents not being hockey parents, they would drop me off, say have a good time and then come back and pick me up after.”

Do you think it helped that you didn’t have that expectation or pressure on yourself?

KJ: “I think so. My parents never told me I needed to go for a run or to do this or that. When there was a hockey session I would turn up and do it. I think I asked them the question, ‘when did you know I was any good at hockey?’ and they said that people started to say that Kate is pretty good. As I got older they could see I was doing some good things. Maybe that helped me as well having parents who didn’t really know the game or have a microscope on me all the time with my hockey.”

What is it like for your parents now that you have come to the end of your Hockeyroos career?

KJ: “They have always been interested in what I and my siblings have done and supported us in any way possible. Their knowledge of hockey is probably slightly better than it was. They have picked up some hockey lingo and have always been supportive through my whole career.”

Over your time in hockey, what have you loved so much about the game?

KJ: “I like to think I’m a competitive person so hockey is an outlet where you can compete and challenge yourself in that way. It is also all of the experiences you have off the pitch. The enjoyment both on and off the pitch goes hand in hand.

Committing to play for Australia and everything that comes with it isn’t the easiest thing, so if you enjoy it off the pitch as much as you do on it then that is what leads to a longer career and you learn a lot more as well, not only about yourself but about others.”

Is there anything specific you can pinpoint that was so great about being part of the Hockeyroos?

KJ: “Everything that comes with it. I don’t think I could pinpoint one thing. At every point during my career there were highs and lows. When you put the whole experience all together it really shapes your learnings through life.

Sometimes hockey can be one of those safe places where you do something and get into a bit of trouble. Maybe in the real world it might have been a lot worse but because you’ve been in that environment where you are around friends you can learn those lessons in a safe place.”

Since the time you made your debut in 2010, how do you look back over your career?

KJ: “I’m content with my career. There are highs and lows and as a sportsperson you have to accept that it is the way it is going to be. If you have a career with no lows then you probably haven’t given it your all.

You are going to have injuries and setbacks so I think that is part and parcel of hockey and high performance sport. As an athlete you do miss out on a lot of things and they’re probably things you look back on the end of your career and wonder whether you made the right decision. You don’t regret it but it makes you realise what you miss out on. But at the end of the day it was all worth it.”

Can you provide an insight into what led you to step away from the game in 2015?

KJ: “I wasn’t in the best place away from hockey. I was a bit over it. My performances probably reflected that but in the end it was a time to step away and re-evaluate the rest of my life.

Maybe it was that time where I got to refresh, which was a time I got a job and started setting things up outside of hockey, that really gave me the balance in my life. That’s when I got into coaching and started to give back to the sport. I found that far more rewarding than what I was doing when I was playing. It gave me that extra direction that I needed outside of hockey.”

What reignited the fire and convinced you to give the Hockeyroos another go?

KJ: “In 2018 it was decided it was going to be the last Australian Hockey League (AHL) before the new Hockey One League came in. Triny (Katrina Powell) had been on my back for a few years about coming back to play AHL again. I would turn up to one training session and tell her not this year. But when it was the last year and everyone was going to be there who I played a lot with in the past I decided to commit to AHL.

From there Triny told me I could give it one last crack at the Hockeyroos and make it happen. In the end it was still a tough few years coming from Newcastle to train in Sydney and not wanting to give work up and go fully back into hockey. Triny was really good about allowing me that balance and it worked out in the end.”

Looking back now how pleased are you that you managed to break back into the Hockeyroos squad and go to another Olympics?

KJ: “At the start I wasn’t totally convinced. I had in the back of mind that if hockey starts to take over too much and I lose the other balance in my life then I knew that wasn’t going to work. But going back on tour and playing at that highest level again, I thought this isn’t so bad. This is why I loved playing hockey at that level and I guess that made it a bit easier, having a massive schedule and commitments to do that. Going back to Perth wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do but I understood it was only for a short amount of time. There is an expiry date on your career, so you might as well give it one last shot and see what happens.”

What was your motivation to come back to it and make the Olympic team?

KJ: “I like being back out competing, whatever level it is. I like going out and playing. I’ve had an understanding from the start that there are going to be knock backs and disappointments, but when you get on the pitch you go out and play and whatever happens happens. That pressure is definitely something that brings the best out of me.

Before selection for the Tokyo Olympics I was coming back from a concussion where I hadn’t really trained fully before going to New Zealand for the Trans Tasman Series which were the matches that the Olympic team was being selected from. It was only about what I could do then and there and that was said to us beforehand as well. The coaches reiterated that no one had played international hockey for a while so they were not going off what has happened in the past – it was about performing now and I think that approach brings the best out of me.”

You played really well in Tokyo. How much did you have to wrestle with the decision not to go around again?

KJ: “I pondered around it for a bit and knew based on what Triny and I had chatted about that she was looking for players to go through to Paris. At the start because I had just gone through it all in Tokyo, you think you can do that again, but then you start realising the commitment it takes and how sore your body is as you get older.

It really started to become a thought of, ‘that’s actually too much’. It’s time to let the next generation come through and get that experience before an Olympics. When you look at it from that perspective, I have had a good run, so to keep going is probably a stretch too far to get to Paris.”

You competed at two Olympics, two Commonwealth Games, two World Cups. It must feel special to have played in those major tournaments?

KJ: “Looking back I can’t really believe all of that has happened. I’ve got great memories from that time and different experiences. I’m glad I was able to go to those tournaments and experience hockey all over the world. I have got some great stories and memories to pass down. Now it’s time for someone else to start that journey.”

You scored one goal in your career – what can you recall from that?

KJ: “It was a mishit. I think it was against India in Busselton or Bunbury. I topped the ball from a penalty corner and think it may have even gone through the goalkeeper’s legs so it wasn’t that memorable. I just remember running back to halfway embarrassed the way I hit it. It was a disaster.”

A lot of people in regional New South Wales would have followed your career. Does it feel special to have represented them?

KJ: “After I made the decision to retire the hardest people to tell were the ones that have supported me my whole career. One of my first coaches in Tamworth – I called him to tell him that I had retired.

I told some of the Tamworth girls who are with NSWIS and chatted to them about it. The messages from them were around that they didn’t know playing at the highest level was possible to achieve from Tamworth. So to hear those messages from young Tamworth athletes coming through makes everything I did worthwhile knowing I have made it possible for someone else to believe they can achieve it as well.”

How much do you enjoy being able to stay in the sport and share everything that is great about hockey in your job with Hockey NSW?

KJ: “With my work at Hockey NSW it’s about getting around that next generation, passing on hockey knowledge and experiences because I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t worth doing. I think it’s something great that can really add to someone’s life.

Whether it works out or not, there a lot of lessons to be learnt in sport that can benefit your life outside of sport, so it’s something I really love doing and I’m lucky to have a job in that area.”

Finally, is there anyone you would like to thank or acknowledge?

KJ: “I wouldn’t have achieved what I did if it wasn’t for my parents. My family and friends as well. They have all been big supporters and I think they have understood what hockey life is, and they are all really flexible with that.

My coaches from the very start that taught me the basics and started that love of hockey. All of those lessons have stuck with me through my career.

David Thompson was CEO of Hockey NSW when I made the decision that I was going to give it one last crack of getting into the Hockeyroos and he made sure I could keep that balance in my life even when I went back to Perth. I was still able to do parts of my job and have more than one focus in my life. I’m thankful to Hockey NSW for how flexible they were and Thommo really led that. All of the staff really helped me out in being able to do that, and it is a whole support network who I now consider as friends. It really helped me finish off my career where I did.”