Heroes of Hockey I Ben Wright

Hockey. It is all about community. Welcoming those from every aspect of life. Even people from the other side of the world. When Ben Wright travelled to Perth from his hometown in countryside Norfolk, England for a short-term hockey trip - his reception at Reds Hockey Club was so warm, he is now the club’s Development Coach and is planning to stay for good. Here is how Ben is giving back to the club that greeted him with open arms.

“My earliest hockey memory is travelling around England playing under-eight tournaments. I’m from Alburgh – which is a small village in countryside Norfolk, and around two-and-a-half hours northeast of London.

My family and friends got me into hockey, there was a club five minutes down the road.

I was very fortunate to be accepted into a school which were big on hockey as a sport scholar. Playing junior county level and working through the England Hockey Performance program was also a lot of fun as we had a great year group.

Representing my local club as a six-year-old all the way up to the First Team as a 16-year-old was a big thing for me at the time. Also playing national outdoor and indoor finals for my club Harleston Magpies and school Framlingham College during the latter stages of my juniors were very proud moments.

Before I came to Perth in 2017 I was actually a full-time Head of Hockey at a school in Norfolk, as well as a playing-coach for my club’s First Grade Team and working as a contracted coach with England Hockey. I had a phone call from what I now know as a typical Aussie who claimed that I was “living the life of a 50-year-old in a 23-year-old’s body.”

After a quick call from Blake Burrows to Stephen ‘China’ Davies - everything was set.

It all happened very quickly. Dropping three jobs at the click of a finger to go and play in one of the best club competitions was daunting, but exciting at the same time.

As a countryside boy growing up I have had the community and family feel engrained into me.

I felt this as soon as I became part of the playing group and club at Reds.

Having now been here five years and seeing other imports come and represent the club – hearing similar feedback is a testament to the club’s culture and welcomeness.

I am now full-time with Reds Hockey Club as the Club Development Coach. This includes overseeing the men’s and women’s Premier Grades one to three, the entire junior program from Minkey to 11/12s, as well as the Aquinas College Hockey Program.

I am very lucky to be in the position I am in and the help I receive from the wide volunteer base is vital for me to be able to do what I do.

The best part of it all, is creating memorable experiences and seeing the smile on a kid’s face after being introduced to an international player at Reds, or the excitement of them finally being able to crack the skill they have been practicing for weeks.

Hockey as we know is a sport that goes hugely under the radar, for its lack of TV, radio and newspaper exposure, it makes up for in participation numbers across all genders and age groups.

There are very few sports where you can play a team game on multiple surfaces across different countries. The club atmosphere allows kids, parents, grandparents and great grandparents a place in the sport and I love that.

Being in a state with a single major city, it makes for a very close-knit network. In the UK we would know two players on each team as we would be travelling hours for a single game of hockey.

In Perth we travel no more than 30 minutes to play everyone in the Premier League, players integrate within other clubs socially and support each other in a sense which creates a broader family feel.

Tournaments such as the Ric Charlesworth Classic only help this too, playing with guys and girls you would never normally share a shirt with. It’s a cool concept.

Outside of that, the uniqueness of hockey in WA is the number of amazing players that are developed in regional areas with a huge lack of resources, support, coaches and funding. Those players make up a large proportion of the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras… and WA have some great examples of this now.”

By ERIN HARWOOD