The aim of Janet Beverley’s PhD research is to prepare a comprehensive history of women’s hockey in Australia. The Australian Women’s Hockey Association (AWHA) was formed in Sydney on 2 July 1910, during the first Interstate Tournament. After 90 years of successful operation the women’s association amalgamated with the Australian Hockey Association in late 2000 to form Hockey Australia (HA).

Histories of women’s hockey in New South Wales and South Australia have been written to celebrate the 75^th and 100^th anniversaries respectively of these two states. Additionally, detailed statistics of the Australian Women’s Hockey Team, including players’ names and international match results since 1914, have been compiled by Richard Aggiss and John Sanders for HA. No history has been written about Australian women’s hockey other than an eight-page addendum to AWHA’s 2000 Annual Report.

In the absence of such historical analysis, little is known about how women’s hockey started and developed in each state, the formation and development of the national association, and the challenges faced by the national association since 1910. The project aims to identify the significant challenges that the leaders of Australian women’s hockey faced, how they overcame those challenges in developing a fledgling women’s hockey nation at the start of the twentieth century into the leading women’s hockey nation at the close of the century and into the twenty first century. The information collected will be analysed through the lenses of three overarching themes: practical feminism, gender politics and women’s leadership.

Janet (shown above right, c.1961) started her research in early 2015 and while visiting The Hockey Museum in November, she gave a presentation of her early findings. A copy of this presentation can be downloaded by clicking the icon to the right.

Janet Beverley

Janet Beverley has recently retired from paid work and after many years away from playing or umpiring hockey, she has decided to return to take up her interest in researching the history of Australian women’s hockey. Janet was an Australian International player in the 1960s and has been able to use her hockey contacts in Australia and around the world, to support her studies. She is registered as a part-time PhD student at The University of Queensland in the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences. Janet is also an avid golfer.

Australia Women's touring team, 1970. Janet Beverley: back row, third from right.