Hockeyroos and Kookaburras Headline Award Winners at Hockey WA’s Night of Nights

Kookaburra Matthew Dawson and Hockeyroo Jane Claxton capped a stellar season from Victoria Park Xavier Hockey Club, claiming the Olympians’ and Charlesworth medals respectively for Fairest & Best in Hockey WA’s Premier Divisions.

The first gong of the night went to the Fairest & Best Female Goalkeeper of the year, Elizabeth Duguid of Wesley South Perth Hockey Club; with an ever-reliable season in goal culminating in Wesley South Perth pushing for a finals berth and her fourth time winning the award.

Speaking on the honour, Duguid said, “I guess it’s always nice to be able to win an individual award, but I play team sport for a reason, so I think I’d rather be playing in the finals right now, but it is nice to be able to cap off the season with the honour.”

“We had a good season in the end and we were unlucky to make finals, but I’m still enjoying my Hockey and looking forward for the seasons to come,” Elizabeth said.

The Fairest & Best Male Goal Keeper for the season went to Ben Di Sabato from Whitfords Hockey Club, after a solid year in goal for the newly promoted Whitfords side to the Premier Division One Men’s League.

Speaking on his season in a side experiencing the Premier League for the first time, Di Sabato said, “You’ve got to go out there every week believing that you are going to win; if you’re not thinking that way then you’re probably not going to turn up to the game ready each week.”

“There was a lot of excitement going into this year and we’re in a unique situation here in Western Australia where we are able to go head to head with some of the best Hockey players in the world; so it was hard not to get up and about before each match due to the excitement,” Ben said.

Penny Squibb from Curtin University Hockey Club took home the Jackie Pereira Top Goal Scorer Award for Women after hitting the back of the net 13 times for the 2020 season.

After scoring a colossal 33 goals for the season, Liam Flynn from Hale Hockey Club received the Eric Pearce Award for Top Goal Scorer in the Men’s division; his fourth year in a row winning the award.

Speaking on his consistency to be able to win the award for a fourth year in a row, Flynn said, “The team I have around me is pretty special, we’ve given it a good nudge the past three to four years; it’s a big help for me going into the circle allowing me to hit my strides at the right time.”

When speaking on second placed Blake Govers who was on 30 goals going into the final round, Flynn said, “It came down to the last couple of games and he got injured luckily for me, so I was lucky enough to be able to pip him at the post.”

Up and coming Hockeyroo Amy Lawton, from Suburban Lions Hockey Club, proved her rising stardom, winning the Rechelle Hawkes Youth Player of the Year Award for Women.

Commenting on making it to Western Australia from Victoria to play this season, Lawton said, “I left just before the second wave hit, so I was pretty lucky compared to the other girls from Victoria as I’ve been able to do a lot of competitive training.”

The Suburban lions have had a wave of young talent coming through recently, with Lawton stating, “We’ve had a lot of young girls coming through which is a bonus for us this year. I love the environment of the club and there’s a lot happening there that will make it an exciting few years to come.”

Dane Gavranich from Westside Wolves received the male equivalent of Youth Player of the Year, the Paul Gaudoin Award, after a stellar season.

“I think it’s great that Hockey WA have all these events that allow us to keep improving,” Gavranich said on his constant improvement each season.

“It’s really positive at the club, we’ve had some good games this season, we just need to pull through a full season. I’m personally looking forward to next season and an improvement on our end.”

The ultimate prize of the Fairest & Best in the Women’s division went to Hockeyroo Jane Claxton from Victoria Park Xavier Hockey Club.

In regards to Vic Park’s recent form of back to back Charlesworth Medallists, and three in the past seven years, Claxton said, “It’s a huge effort from the club, we’re doing some great junior development and our minkey this year we’ve had over one hundred kids come out, so we’re doing our effort to grow the WA Hockey scene.”

Speaking on the opportunity to play week-in-week-out this season for Victoria Park, Claxton said, “It’s an extremely rare season for us as international players to be able to play every week and it’s a huge honour to be able to represent Vic Park. I’ve been with them since I moved to Perth in 2013, so it’s good to be able to give back to the club by contributing on the field as well as coaching the little kids coming through.”

Victoria Park capped of the night in sensational form, completing a back to back of the top two individual prizes Hockey WA has to offer, with Kookaburra Matthew Dawson receiving the Olympians’ Medal for Fairest & Best in the Men’s division.

On his expectations going into the awards, Dawson said, “I didn’t think I’d be up here tonight,the boys made it pretty tough to not think about it but I tried to not get ahead of myself. It’s been a pretty close year with all the international players week-in-week-out playing made it pretty tough to poll votes.”

Speaking on having fourth place Jacob Whetton in the team, Dawson said, “This year for the club has been really good to show we’ve improved and having players like Jake at the club is a big thing moving forward. I’ve loved playing with the club this year with the group of boys we have, and hopefully there’s a few more improvements to make over the coming years and we start to win some pretty big games”