Alec's hockey obsession

Twenty-four-year-old Alec Rasmussen, part of the pride and joy of Hale Hockey, is a valiant striker who was destined for big things at a young age.

Alec has always held a special place for hockey in his heart on and off the field.

Growing up in a hockey family, it was natural for him to follow suit with the rest of his family.

Alec said not only having his older siblings play, but also both of his parents, is what helped spawn his love for the sport at a young age, around four to five years old.

“It was pretty natural being a kid and running around after my siblings is how I got into it,” he said.

Mr Rasmussen also said when growing up, he gave full credit to his older brother and sister for helping him in his development.

“My brother and sister taught me probably the most out of everyone, just as a junior growing up from 6 or 7 all the way up even when I was 12,” he said.

“Two older siblings really [helped] the most, always in the backyard.”

While Western Australia is now Alec’s home, this has not always been the case, moving over from Queensland when he was 15.

“I was born and grew up in Townsville in North Queensland, we moved over in 2012 so I was 15 entering year 10 at the time, that is where I grew up and played hockey.”

Hockey may have been Alec’s biggest passion, but he did give it a crack in a variety of other sports.

“I played a lot of different sports growing up, even though I was quite short I had a go at basketball, I had a go at soccer, tried maybe one game of cricket but got bored with that, even rugby league,” he said.

“But that did not work out because I was so small.

“I tried my hand at a lot of different sports, but It was always hockey for me.”

While Alec has seen a high-level of success, this was not always the case for him unfortunately.

Seeing how good he has been it is easy to assume that success has always come naturally to Alec, but he set the record straight saying how much he had to work to get to where he is.

“It was kind of up and down a lot, when I was 12, I played the Queensland under-12s and then I sort of dropped off a bit, did not make 15s my first year over here.”

“Then I really got some good coaching from a guy called Trid Woodhouse, and then took off again to play 18s the next year as a sixteen-year-old, then the year after that I made the China team for the Youth Olympics.”

Alec says his talents have taken him around the world, and he is very grateful for the different opportunities that have been presented to him due to hockey.

“I have been fortunate to play for Australia a couple of times, I played in China for the Youth Olympics and I played in Malaysia for the under 21s as well,” he said.

“I also played a season in Belgium for the Royal Daring Hockey Club.

“I have played in a few different countries.”

Whilst he looks at all these memories fondly, winning a gold medal over Canada in China in the five-a-side at the young age of 17 was no small task and the thought of it brings an instant smile to Alec’s face.

“It was amazing, it is hard to describe, it is like a mini-Olympic experience,” he said.

“It was really cool to get a taste of that, obviously as a kid growing up you always want to go to the Olympics, you want to aspire to that sort of stuff.

“To be able to get a taste of it at a junior level and play that high-level competition in a different format, being the fives compared to the 11 a side.

“The guys you are around on the team, being around all the other athletes representing Australia, the whole Olympic village experience was just insane.”

While this once in a lifetime experience was something that Alec will always treasure, it did come with challenges due to the level of competition and pressure at such a young age.

“It was interesting, you get really nervous because it is such a big event but at the same time you have really good guys around you, and you have a coach like David Guest,” he said.

“He was really good, and we were able to take a lot of confidence into each and every game because of the way that we prepared.

“The guys we had on our team, really stuck together and that gave us a lot of confidence to help get over those nerves.

“The Youth Olympics and the under 18s were the two best teams that I was a part of, simply because we were so clear and focused on one goal and every time we turned up to training, every practice match that we played, every time we turned up to play hockey or a hockey meeting, we were so focused and so clear on what we were doing, it was the best vibe and best culture to be a part of.

“That commitment and that level of focus was at such a high level on those two teams, and I really loved that.”

Alec said there was a point in his career where his hockey began to propel forward, landing him many opportunities to do and see amazing things through hockey.

“I got to represent Australia a couple more times at the under 21 level and I have also represented WA at quite a few state tournaments,” he said.

“We won 18s, we came second and third at a couple 21s tournaments and have played for the Thundersticks for a few years now as well.

“The season in Belgium also came after that and [the opportunities] all kind of came off the back of that.”

Hockey may have been at the front of Alec’s life so far, but what is in store next for the young Queensland-born prodigy?

“I guess I have taken a bit of a step back from the obsession over hockey, which was a massive part of my life since I was probably 12 or 13 to maybe last year being 23, I stopped making teams, so I had to kind of step back,” he said.

“Three or four years ago I started a small field hockey business called Field Hockey Label, so the business and psychology as well as investing and money all became part of my life, so I have kind of taken a step back from the [hockey] obsession and put a bit more of a balance back in my life.

“While I still love hockey, there are other things going on now.”

The career that Alec has carved for himself would not have been for those who inspired him and his role models as he grew up.

“When I was really young, I looked up to Jamie Dwyer, he was a big inspiration for me, him and I had quite similar builds, being kind of short and not very stocky but did rely a lot on skill and awareness of the game,” he said.

“My brother as well, all three of us being strikers, him being a lot older than me and watching him play as a junior and be so good at his level was a big inspiration for me to be better than him from a young age.”

Alec said the people around him have truly helped him through his hockey journey and he thanked those that were important in his development to allow him to be where he is today.

“I have been very fortunate to be surrounded by so many good people at such a young age, I started off with my brother in the backyard,” he said.

“I moved over to Perth and met guys like Liam Flynn through school and have been playing hockey with him for nine years now.

“Him and I have this kind of rivalry of always trying to one up each other, it was always so good to play with him in school hockey with us two just playing one-twos up the field.

“Dave Staniforth and Stu Van Selm, the two Hale coaches for the last three years have been amazing, and the energy and the culture that they are building is incredible, it is really inspirational, I think.

“Alistair Park is another coach that I have found really inspirational, I have known him since 18s, he was the coach of the under-18s when I was 16, he was a really inspirational guy.

“David Guest was the coach of the Youth Olympics, a super inspirational guy and was a Hale player as well, coming from the same club.

“All of the guys I managed to play with at the Youth Olympics, all the guys I played with at the under-18s state team, just being surrounded constantly by amazing players and it is always really challenging to live up to their expectations as well as mine.”

By FRASER WILLIAMS