Daisy Rice pictured at 4 years old

Parkes girl and Red Bend Catholic College student, Daisy Rice comes from a family of hockey players, who first started playing hockey at just four years of age. It explains her rise to selection in the Australian U15s All Schools Merit Team.

Daisy was first selected in the Combined Catholic Colleges (CCC) Hockey Team and then trialled in Newcastle and made the NSW All Schools team. NSW All Schools provides opportunities for secondary students from the Catholic, Government and Independent sectors to participate in representative sport at the national level.

Daisy Rice recently represented the NSW All Schools team at the School Sports Australia Games 2026 in Melbourne and made it to the final of the U15 All Schools Championship, going down in a shoot out with the QLD team.

Daisy said “My NSW team lost to Queensland in the Grand Final, through the game we fought hard scoring the first goal in the first quarter but Queensland equalised in the end of the third quarter, the game ended 1-1 and we went into shootouts going down 3-1.”

It was while representing NSW under 15s All Schools, where Daisy was one of 15 girls selected to be in the U15s All Australian hockey team. This is Daisy’s first time being selected in an Australian team.

Growing up with two older brothers means Daisy has always been competitive.

She started playing junior hockey in Parkes, playing on Saturday mornings and moving to playing senior hockey in year 7 for Crows Hockey Club. In 2025 Daisy played for the Parkes United Premier League team in the Central West Premier League competition and this year she is playing for Goulburn in the Canberra Capital League.

“I actually love the sport of hockey, it is fun and requires skill, fitness and strategy,” said Daisy.

Daisy at 15 years old while representing NSW All Schools team.

Pictured is Casey Miles back in 2024 when she proudly wore the green and gold for the first time.

Parkes woman Casey Miles is currently overseas competing in the World Masters Hockey World Cup (WMHWC), which is the premier international tournament for Masters hockey, bringing together teams from countries across the globe. This year’s tournament is being held in Rotterdam, Netherlands, from 22 July to 1 August 2026 and Casey will be representing Australia in the Women’s 35+ team.

Casey, who has played hockey for 34 years, was selected for the WMHWC following the Australian Masters Championships which were held in Hobart back in October 2025. Players are selected based on their performances at state and national championships.

This is Casey’ second time representing Australia at World Cup level, and she says, “It’s a huge honour and a dream come true. My first World Cup/International Masters Championship was in Capetown South Africa 2024. It was the result of many years of dedication, training and support from my family, friends, team mates and coaches.”

Casey said “it’s every little girl hockey player’s dream to play in the Netherlands. I’m still pinching myself that I get to play the elite, proudly wearing the green and gold. I hope to play the Dutch on their home soil at some point it would truly be an honour.”

Casey’s team will be competing at the Scheidam complex, she said, “We kick off our campaign on 23 July against the USA. Followed by New Zealand, France then Belgium before crossing over based on results. Ultimately looking for a spot in the Gold medal match on 1 August.”

Parkes has a great representation going to this World Cup, along side Casey, Denise Gersbach will be competing for the over 50s, and Maureen Massey will compete in the over over 70s.

For those keen to watch, games will be live streamed through World Masters Hockey website: https://www.worldmastershockey.tv/en/home

There is no PHI hockey this week due to the long weekend. Good luck to our men’s and women’s open teams playing in their re­spective State Championships.

Everyone is welcome to the Parkes Junior Hockey Super Gala Day.

Parkes Junior Hockey will be hosting a free coaching clinic for all ages and abilities on Friday, 3rd March and again on Friday, 10th March from 5.30pm – 7pm.

It’s free and fun! New players are ecouraged to come along to try hockey and existing players are also welcome to come along and train. There will be registation assistance and advice available and also a free sausage sizzle for all participants on Friday, 10th March.

Registrations will close on 11th March and the competition starts Saturday, 18th March.

www.revolutionise.com.au/parkeshockey/

Local fans were stoked to see Hockeyroo Mariah Williams play at home on Saturday.

A good crowd of almost 900 were treated to top class hockey in Parkes on Saturday when several Kookaburras and Hockeyroos were playing in the first ever Hockey One match in a regional centre.

“It was just fantastic. We had a good crowd and quality games,” said event manager Ian Westcott.

The second match of the day featured local star Mariah Williams playing for NSW Pride. She gave her local fans lots to cheer about as her team beat Canberra Chill 6 – 0. In the men’s game Canberra Chill came out on top with a 3 – 0 win.

The men’s and women’s matches were the final games for the second season of the Sultana-Bran Hockey One League and decided the make-up of the final series.

Mariah said before the match she was a bit nervous as usual, but it was great to be playing at home. She was handing out signatures before and after the game to young players who were very excited to meet her.

Ian said Parkes Hockey Incorporated had received lots of positive comments from the players and from Parkes supporters. World Hockey Player Award recipient Jamie Dwyer, who was guest speaker at a Celebration of Hockey dinner on Saturday night, said in his speech what a great event it was and that these competitions should be held in more regional centres.

Mariah Williams with two fans.

Parkes Hockey Incorporated (PHI) is getting ready to showcase Parkes as a premier regional venue when the first ever Hockey One game will be played out of a capital city in Parkes on 12th November. PHI officials are (L-R) executive direc-tor Richard Rice, women’s director Mandy Westcott, treasurer Tracey Chambers and event manager Ian Westcott.

Excitement is building for the biggest hockey day ever to be held in Parkes next Saturday when up to 11 international players will be in action at the McGlynn Park.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to watch Kookaburras and Hockeyroos in the NSW Pride and Canberra Chill teams on 12th November in the first ever Hockey One match to be played in a regional centre.

Parkes Hockey Incorporated (PHI) organisers are expecting a crowd of around 1,000 people with local hockey star Mariah Williams the biggest draw card on the day. The 27-year-old has been a lock in the national squads for the past decade and has made over 100 appearances across all national levels. Mariah has played a pivotal role in the 2022 instalment of the NSW Pride campaign.

Event Manager Ian Westcott from Parkes Hockey Incorporated said he would love to see local people getting behind the event.

The men’s and women’s matches in Parkes will be the final games for the second season of the Sultana-Bran Hockey One League and will decide the make-up of the final series to be held in Bendigo the following weekend.

The NSW Pride teams will feature a number of Kookaburras and Hockeyroos with some players returning from stints in the powerful European Hockey Leagues. This will also be the first taste of Australia’s Hockey One league for these returning superstars of the game.

In addition to these international superstars there is a mix of great young locally developed talent as well as some up-and-coming stars of the game.

This will be the first time a Hockey One game has been played out of a capital city and is a joint venture between Parkes Shire Council, Hockey NSW, NSW Pride and Parkes Hockey Incorporated.

“Hockey NSW is delighted to be partnering with the Parkes Shire Council and Parkes Hockey Incorporated to bring the only Hockey One game to regional Australia. It’s a wonderful opportunity for hockey enthusiasts and the broader community in and around Parkes to enjoy elite sport and we are expecting a capacity crowd on the day,” said Hockey NSW Chief Executive Officer, Emma Highwood.

Both games will be streamed on Kayo Sports, with the broadcast commencing at 3:30pm. 

Parkes Hockey will also be hosting a junior clinic on Saturday morning free of charge run by Glenn Johnstone -Hockey NSW RPC.

A Celebration of Hockey dinner will also be held at the Parkes Golf Club on Saturday evening with Jamie Dwyer as guest speaker. Jamie has won the World Hockey Player award six times was voted 5-time MVP. He will tell his hockey story and guests will be able to mingle with Jamie and a host of other Australian players. Tickets for the Clinics and Dinner can be found at the links below.

• Clinic: https://www.123tix.com.auevents/35611/hockey-coaching-clinic-with-nsw-pride-act-chill-players

• Dinner: https://www.123tix.com.au/events/35542/parkes-hockey-inc-presents-a-night-with-jamie-dwyer

• Tickets for the games are available viaTicketek at https://premier.ticketek.com.au/Shows/Show.aspx?sh=HOCKEYNS21

Denise Gersbach and Maureen Massey, with Graeme Thompson on the right.

Parkes hockey player Denise Gersbach has been selected in the Australian Over 50s team to compete in the Trans-Tasman Challenge in Christchurch, New Zealand in May next year.

Denise will be representing Australia for the fifth time in New Zealand.

Two other Parkes players have been selected as shadow players for Australian teams.

Maureen Massey as a shadow goalkeeper for the Australian over 65s team, and Graeme Thompson as a shadow player for the Australian over 45’s team.

Unfortunately for Maureen, Australia could not select an over 70s team, which is Maureen’s age division, due to a lack of numbers on New Zealand’s part. This means Maureen had to compete with the 65-year-olds for a spot in the team.

If Maureen gets called up it would be her eighth time to represent in the green and gold.

The Trans-Tasman is a three match tournament between Australia and New Zealand for men and women’s teams from over 35s to over 65s every second year.

The men have an over 70s age division.

We keep our fingers crossed for Maureen and Graeme, and congratulations to Denise!

The Parkes East Primary School hockey team played in the state finals of the PSSA knockout in Newcastle on Tuesday. The team won the semi-final against Robertson Public School 1 – 0 to play Tamworth Public School in the finals. They ended second in the state with the final score 1 – 3 earning them a silver medal for the team members.

It was a golden result for Parkes residents Fran Dixon (left) and Maureen Massey (middle) as players and Donna Payne (right) as manager of the NSW 65 Blues team. They claimed the gold medal in their division at the 2022 Hockey Australia Women’s Masters Championships in Cairns last month. The NSW over 50s team with Parkes players Denise Gersbach, Jane Grovernor and Mandy Westcott won silver.