How ‘lifeblood’ of Labrador Hockey is attracting hundreds of young talents to the sport each year
The story of this local club’s 2024 Gold Coast Hockey season is one for the history books, having taken out every junior division and featured in over 75% of possible grand finals - but there’s more to the story.
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The story of Labrador’s 2024 Gold Coast Hockey season is one for the history books.
Not only did the club appear in every junior grand final - where they claimed a title in each - but made the grand final stage for 10 of a possible 13 GCHA divisions across juniors and seniors.
The Under-12 Mixed, Under-14 Girls and Under-14 Boys also wrote themselves into the records with Labrador v Labrador gold medal matches.
“Our junior development program is the lifeblood of our club,” club Vice-President Rebecca Guild said of the success.
“It’s been featured (widely) for it’s innovation and success in attracting up to 100+ kids to hockey annually.
“This is largely made possible thanks to sponsors that have supported the program since its inception through to today.
“The exposure of hockey in schools needs to be pioneered by proactive clubs to ensure we always have a rich tapestry of new blood coming into hockey.”
Having played at Labrador for 32 years herself, Guild spoke highly of the club’s accessibility and incredible leadership team for its athletes in coaching director Brent Livermore, junior mentor Bruce Curtis and Olympian Corey Weyer.
“Much of our 57 year history is displayed on the walls of our clubhouse that are completely chock-full of pictures of our past Olympians and plethora of player achievements,” she said.
“Many hockey players will tell you that they first discovered hockey by our very passionate, Bruce Curtis as part of the schools program he has tirelessly championed for almost three decades.
“His commitment to this program and all it’s moving parts has ensured we have been able to attract and develop players like Corey.”
Livermore meanwhile this year celebrated a milestone 20 years since Australia’s first and only hockey Olympic Gold (Athens, 2004).
“Brent has been a mentor to all our players and in particular Corey Weyer in reaching his Olympic dreams.”
A then 21-year-old Weyer debuted for the Kookaburras at the 2017 Festival of Hockey, before racking up a commendable 43 appearances by 2020.
After the heartbreak of missing out on Kookaburras selection for the Tokyo Olympics, Weyer fought his way back into the international hockey spotlight, playing some of the best hockey of his career, and successfully booked his ticket to Paris.
“Corey is a treasured Labrador hockey club success story,” Guild said
“He’s been in our club since our junior development program, coming right through our various ranks of junior and senior hockey.”
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