Surprised Sara savours state title honour

Winning her first Hockey Queensland Coach of the Year award was highly deserved.

Ipswich personal trainer Sara Rogers at Club Lime. Picture: Cordell Richardson

"VERY surprising'' is the way modest Ipswich hockey player/coach Sara Rogers described her latest accolade.

However, winning her first Hockey Queensland Association Coach of the Year was highly deserved.

Rogers enjoyed a stunning 2019 season, sharing in gold medal success at Brisbane club and national level, along with guiding her home A-Grade men's team to another grand final.

"It's nice to be recognised for coaching but I thoroughly enjoy the teams I have been involved in and seeing improvement is the biggest reward,'' Rogers said.

Keen to further her coaching career, the former Australian Country captain hopes the added exposure assists her longer-term ambition.

"Hockey Queensland is doing an amazing job with regards to our elite pathways and providing a perfect foundation for our athletes,'' she said.

"We are a very strong state and hopefully continue to be that way for many years to come, which gives me greater opportunities for the future.

"I would love to eventually be the head coach of the under-18 girls but it's a very sought after job.

"I'm happy to be continuing learning off other coaches.''

The Ipswich born and bred personal trainer was recognised for her efforts with the state title-winning Brisbane 1 team and being involved with the Queensland under-18 team that also won a gold medal at the national championships. She was assistant to accomplished mentor Lisa Morgan in that success.

Rogers also coached the Hancocks A-Grade men after working with the Australian under-21 men's team in the 2018/19 season.

"The Queensland gold was very special,'' she said.

"We were down 2-0 against NSW with seven minutes to go.

"We took our goalie off, scored, then scored again and scored our third goal with seconds remaining.''

She said sharing in Brisbane's state honour was also rewarding as the team was undefeated, with no goals scored against them for the tournament.

Rogers completed a fine recognition double, after earning the Amy Korner Award for Excellence at Ipswich Hockey's presentation function.

The HQ award winners were notified on Facebook due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Rogers is planning a return to Brisbane competition training while waiting for Ipswich Hockey to make a decision on its season.

Originally published as