Going to the Olympics is a dream come true for athletes, and being able to take part in your home country is the ultimate.

It was his third Games, but the 2000 Sydney Olympics stands out for Parkes hockey star Stephen Davies as the absolute highlight of his career.

“It was a completely different feel to compete in your home country,” Stephen told The Parkes Phoenix from Perth. “To have the people I grew up with and the people who helped me in my career come to the Games was just stunning.”

The phenomenal experience started in Parkes about a month before the Games with the torch relay through town when Stephen led the parade in a chariot. “The support from the people in Parkes lining the streets and at Pioneer Oval was the most memorable part. The community spirit really shone through. It meant so much to me.” (The local support for Stephen was already on show eight years earlier when crowds gathered on 19th September 1992 for a street parade and civic reception for the first Olympian from Parkes in nearly 40 years.)

He said to have so many Parkes supporters at the Games, the biggest sporting event ever held in Australia, was just incredible. “When we did our warm-up on the field before a match, people would yell out and I had time to spot family and friends in the crowd.” He said there was usually a small window of opportunity after cool down for a quick catch-up too.

It was the only Games Stephen’s parents were able to attend, which made it even more special. “I was able to show them the athlete’s village.”

For Stephen, who became known as the Maradona of hockey having scored 140 goals in more than 274 games in green and gold, the memories of playing hockey at Cheney Park are still very vivid.

“I clearly remember Saturday mornings and the fields filled with people, the whistles blowing, announcements being made, parents supporting their kids… we would go home for lunch and go back in the afternoon to watch the seniors play. The friendships you made were the best.” (When Stephen grew up in Parkes all the hockey fields were grass only. The first turf field was unveiled on the eve of Stephen’s announcement as Parkes’s first ever hockey Olympian. The field was later named Stephen Davies Field.)

While Stephen no longer plays hockey having retired after the Sydney Olympics, he will probably never ‘escape’ it. He has since gone into serious coaching and went to the Rio and London Olympics with the women’s hockey team, he is the West Australian men’s senior coach, coaches at club level and also runs his own academy.

He is very keen to return to Parkes to do some coaching. “I would love to do it. We just have to wait for travel restrictions to be lifted.” In the mean time he stays in touch with two other Parkes hockey stars, Mariah Williams and Kurt Lovett, who are both based in Perth at the moment.

With both his kids playing hockey, Stephen still enjoys going to practise days, to watch the first-grade matches and to catch up with hockey friends.

“No matter whether you chase your dreams or whether you just want to play, the most important part is to never forget you play to have fun. “When you play community sport you are part of a club and a community and part of something bigger than yourself, and that is what it is all about.”

By Maggi Barnard

While many Parkes residents attended the 2000 Sydney Olympics as spectators, Mal Westcott went there to work and came home with very memorable experiences.

He not only ended up with a bronze Olympic medal around his neck, but also had a long conversation with an elite athlete he picked up from the airport.

Mal was one of about eight bus drivers from Parkes who were recruited by Peter Harris to go with his buses to Sydney. He was the only one who went for six weeks, and that meant he was there two weeks before the Games started.

“I was fortunate to be chosen to transport athletes and that involved picking them up from the airport as they arrived before the start of the event.”

Mal said the main highlight of his six weeks came when he was waiting in the common room at the airport to be called out. When his turn came, he only had three passengers: Roger Federer and his chiro, plus an archer from somewhere in Europe.

He took the three in his 50-seater bus with Roger sitting in the front seat chatting to him all the way to the athlete’s village. “He’s been my hero ever since! I’ve been following his tennis career very closely.”

The other highlight for Mal was his association with the German women’s soccer team. He first picked them up for a training session, and they asked if he could be their driver again for their match against Norway.

“They were the favourites for the gold medal, and were not too concerned about playing Norway.”

“They asked me to tell them when we were 25 minutes from the Sydney Football Stadium at Moore Park so they can start listening to their motivational tapes.”

The Germans had a horror match scoring an own goal and loosing.

They ended up playing for the bronze medal and again asked Mal to pick them up. The only event Mal ever saw of the Olympics was the medal ceremony with Germany getting the bronze.

“They were very happy and did not want to go home. They asked me to take them to the ‘German House’ where they wanted to celebrate. They included me in the celebrations and put one of the medals around my neck. That felt pretty special to have a bronze Olympic medal on.”

Although the six weeks away from home became very long, and the days of ten or more hours of work very tiring, Mal said he really enjoyed his interaction with the athletes. He remembers picking up the Australian basketball team, which was also a special highlight.

“I am very happy I did it. It was an eye opener in many ways. It was such a big event and so much involved logistically just in organising transport, let alone everything else. It was really well organised. We did see some overkill, but that is probably why it was so successful.”

By Maggi Barnard

“It was a time when emotions went off the chart,” is Dusty Powter’s recollection of not only attending the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but also the build-up of events in Parkes.

“I will never forget Australian hockey player Stephen Davies leading the procession in the chariot for the Olympic torch relay in Parkes and the carnival at Pioneer Oval. Before that was the filming of the IBM ad, which gave Parkes the best ever advertising all over world. I had family and friends calling from England and Germany who had seen it.”

For Dusty to see his life long friend he had grown up with in Parkes play for Australia in the Olympics was just unreal.

“I had tickets for every hockey game for the men and women and was there for two weeks. Every time Stephen ran on the field, scored a goal or a clip of him was shown on the big screens, tears were running. I was so proud of him, and none of it ever went to his head.”

According to Dusty, an avid hockey player himself and former coach and sponsor of Mariah Williams and sponsor for Kurt Lovett, the Olympics is the pinnacle for hockey. For Stephen to have retired with three Olympic medals (two silver and a bronze from Sydney) is just fantastic.

“It was a big deal for Parkes hockey the day Stephen made it on the national team. He really was the Maradona of hockey. He was just a freak. And the amazing thing is he never forgot where he came from.”

Dusty clearly remembers how friendly and helpful everyone was in Sydney.

“There was such a carnival atmosphere and so many Parkes people with banners in support of Stephen. It was just an awesome and phenomenal time!”

By Maggi Barnard