Tasmanian hockey journeyman and Ricky Ponting Service to Junior Sport Shield winner David Hickman has opened up about his involvement with state hockey.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Hickman has played, coached and developed hockey in Tasmania for 50 years.
His current position is convenor with Tasmania Hockey.
Mr Hickman has for many years assisted with coaching duties with programs such as The Queechy Penguins as well as Launceston Church Grammar School hockey.
Mr Hickman also works as an umpire, and is helping to establish an initiative that combats negative actions against umpires.
His involvement in all these areas is almost entirely voluntary, though he remains wholeheartedly humble about his work.
“I don’t think I do anything particularly special from an administrative point of view,” Mr Hickman said.
“I just do what I feel has to be done and just get on with it.”
Hockey’s emphasis on teamwork is one of the main reasons Mr Hickman fell in love with the sport.
“It’s a great comradery across ages and it’s a sport that can take you through from, well like I say I played from pre-teen, I’m still playing now,” he said.
Particular highlights from Mr Hickman’s illustrious career include playing in the World Masters Hockey competition and winning gold in Auckland as well as convening the national under 18’s competition in 2016.
“The really pleasing thing was that this was voted by people outside of hockey and the fact that they recognised I guess what I’d done, that felt really warm and encouraging.”
- David Hickman
He also shared his stories from coaching teams and watching younger generations learn and develop their skills in the sport.
“One of the girls teams I coached at Grammar, they might have only won one game in a season, next year they came back and we won the premiership,” Mr Hickman said.
“That was really pleasing from a coaching point of view, I try to instill in the kids that it’s about the team.”
“I’m not a particular fan of giving out individual awards and in those age groups, most of the kids, they all contribute to the best of their ability and they all learn something,” he said.
“That's very personal to me that it's just unfair you know there's a saying there's no ‘I’ in team.”
In 2012, Mr Hickman’s sporting career found itself in jeopardy as he underwent surgery to remove a lump on his kidney.
This lump was later discovered to be cancerous.
“I didn’t know whether I was going to play after that,” Mr Hickman said.
But much like his hard-nosed approach to his work with hockey, Mr Hickman was keen to get on with it.
“It was a huge emotional and physical impact, but it’s six years on and we’ve moved on and now it’s fine,” he said.
Mr Hickman was modest about receiving the Ricky Ponting Service to Junior Sport Shield, and was simply happy to be recognised by the wider sporting community.
“The really pleasing thing was that this was voted by people outside of hockey and the fact that they recognised I guess what I’d done, that felt really warm and encouraging.”
While you're with us, did you know that you can now sign up to receive breaking news updates and daily headlines direct to your inbox. Sign up here.
