'Daisy' Day here to stay in WA

Ex-Canberra product James ‘Daisy’ Day has come to WA and is lighting up the All Flags Premier League with Melville City Hockey Club.

He has travelled a long hockey journey so far, but for James, it is only the beginning.

As he grew up, hockey managed to be a large part of James’ life for years, starting from quite a young age.

“It (hockey) has been in the family since I was about four or five, but I did not start playing it seriously until I was 13 or 14.”

During James’ younger playing days, he did not have immediate success on the field and hockey was not the sole drive for him that it is today.

“In 15’s and all that I was not the biggest kid back then, I was still playing football and baseball, so hockey was put to the side a bit,” Day said.

“I remember making the reserves for the Australian Schoolboys side, that would have been the first big team I made.

“I was not really taking it super seriously because I was not getting into any sides.”

While it had been in his family for many years and James had started playing seriously at around the age of 13, he does not consider it becoming a major part of his life until later when he started seeing some success.

“When I turned 18, I started doing some of the (national) tournaments, under 18’s, 21’s and I started getting named in the national junior squads and realised I could push further,” Day said.

“I got named in the national development squad and played with the ‘Australia A’ teams a couple of times.”

James’ determination and drive to reach the final goal is what helped hockey switch from the back burner of other sports, to the single flame and his one true passion.

“Once I saw the opportunity to play for the Australia in the Olympics, Commonwealth Games or World Cups, I put everything into hockey,” he said.

While James is a successful player in Western Australia now, he hasn’t forgotten his Canberra roots and talked about the experience of growing up and playing hockey there.

“It is a small hockey community there, everyone knows everyone,” he explained.

“Everybody helps each other out in competitions, but it is probably not the strongest, which is part of the reason I came to Perth.

“In our first-grade comp, everyone is willing to help each other, no matter what club you play for.

“In a small state, everyone gets around the sport as well.”

Coming to WA from Canberra was a big decision but it had a lot of reasoning and weight behind it for James.

“I first came over three years ago now,” Day told.

“Playing in the Canberra league was good, but I just felt that I was not going to get any better.

“In that league there is two to three good teams, other than that, it is not the best, but coming over to one of the strongest competitions in Australia, it was really a no brainer for me.”

Before coming to WA, James was reached out to by Melville, whom he still plays for, and he talks highly about the club.

“[Melville] couldn’t have made my move over here any easier, it is great and a big family club, so it feels like my old club back at Canberra.

“When I first got here, everyone at the club was so welcoming and I did not feel like I was just being brought out here to play hockey.

“I could not rate Melville more highly; it is an awesome club.”

While making a big move like that may have been hard, it is one that James has no regrets about.

“It could not have been better since I came over here…I came in the first year thinking that I might only do a season here, but I have ended up with a partner and living and working in WA full time,” he said.

“I am not looking at going back any time soon.”

With one of the major driving forces of the move to WA being James’ competitiveness and wanting to grow as a player, he says there is a huge difference between playing in Canberra and playing in WA.

“It is week-in-week-out here, with the men’s comp, from the top eight to nine teams, everyone is competitive, you are given a good competition and a good game every week,” Day said.

“It is a lot better to back in Canberra where one week you will play a top team and the next week you will play a team where they are lucky to field some players and turns into a blowout.”

Since coming to WA, James has had more opportunities to play at higher levels and these doors being opened saw opportunity to him to improve and play against better competition.

“In the first year I came over here, I got to play with the Australia A side against India when they came over,” he told.

“I was also able to train with the Kookaburras for a bit, and being able to be involved with the Australian program has helped my game a lot.”

After crossing the Nullarbor to the West side, Day immediately had the opportunity to play against India and other countries, an eye opener for James.

“I was lucky to play against [India]’s junior team a couple of years before but playing their seniors team is like a different ball game to other teams they’re very skilful with the ball and very physical.

“Just before COVID I got to play against Belgium with the (Australia) A’s and the different styles is massive, with the Indian team being strong and massive compared to the European teams, it’s a whole different style of hockey.”

In preparation for the Olympics, James was fortunate enough to train with the Kookaburras and had an opportunity to trial for selection.

“This year I went down to Busselton with the Kookaburras for their camp and got to play against them in their warmup games,” he said.

“I went to the super-camp last year where I was trialling for selection which unfortunately, I did not get.”

Even if he is not with the team in Tokyo, James still was able to get a behind the scenes look at the preparation that goes on for the Olympic Games.

“It was awesome to see what they were going to try and do at the Olympics, with how they were going to play and everything they were going to do, and seeing how serious they all were about it,” he said.

“It was not just the work on the field, but the work off the field with all the videos and the meetings, it was an eye opener to see all the work that they put into all of it.”

With seeing how much work goes into getting ready for the Olympics, the thought of it is something that could overwhelm many, but is exciting for James and his future endeavours,

“It would be awesome to one day be involved in the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games or ever the Pro League, going away, get to travel and be a part of the tournament vibe.”

With these goals in mind, James also talked about other hopes he has for the future going forward.

“Hopefully if we can get COVID sorted, I would love to play for Canberra again in the Sultana Bran Hockey One League,” Day said.

“Melville is sitting on the top of the ladder, so hopefully we can continue forward and win the club’s first premiership.

“Long term my goal is to play for Australia, so until I cannot play anymore, I am going to keep pushing to get that game and play for Australia.”

In the short term, James is currently leading the goal tally for the All Flags Premier League and Melville are rolling at the top of the ladder, with all hopes of getting the win.

“We have a group in our top squad of probably about 30 blokes with everyone sharing the same goal to play the best we can each week,” he said.

“We clicked this year, and we are all playing well together and are avoiding injuries for the most part.”

With everything James has fought through to get to the point of where he is, he has his roots to thank for his success.

“My parents sacrificed a lot for me, a lot of school holidays were spent at hockey, and they paid a lot of money for me to go and play in these tournaments.

“All of my coaches back in Canberra I have to give thanks to, my club coach Shae, my Academy coach Ben Bishop, they have all put a lot into me.

“My partner, what she must put up with, some days I come home from hockey, and I can be either quite angry or happy, and she has to put up with a lot of stuff.

“I really have to give thanks to most of the Canberra community and Melville City Hockey Club for looking after me.”

To follow James and Melville City Hockey Club in the All Flags Premier League, keep your eyes on the Hockey WA website and social channels.

By FRASER WILLIAMS