Left: The Youngs, left to right, Bryan, Monika, Fiona and Stefan, are taking the Hockey scene by storm.
By Marc McGowan
A HOCKEY dynasty is brewing in Narre Warren South and it is set to make a major impact on the Australian scene.
Fiona Young has been striking hockey balls in anger for 30 years, but has since been joined in the venture by her children, Stefan, 17, Bryan, 15 and latest addition Monika, who made her debut in the under-nine competition in the recently completed winter season.
“They started playing because I was there the whole time,” Fiona said. “They’ve been going with me since they were born.”
She moved to Australia from the United Kingdom in 1987 with husband Chris, bringing her sporting passion with her.
Dandenong Hockey Club was the lucky initial benefactor, but, together with other members from the club, Fiona soon helped form the Berwick Hockey Club that has since become known as the Casey Cannons Hockey Club.
She takes part in the annual Australian Women’s Veterans’ Championships and competes in the Victorian Hockey Association’s Women’s State League Four competition on a weekly basis during the winter season.
“It’s a fast game, it’s skillful and it keeps you fit,” she said.
Fiona’s hockey genes have been passed onto her children who have cut a swathe through local and state hockey competition and collated achievements aplenty.
Eldest son Stefan was the first of Fiona’s children to adopt the game and has well and truly created his own niche at the club.
“I just love the skills involved, the team play, and the blokes you meet,” Stefan said. “It’s a really good team sport.”
This is the attitude that allowed him to play a club-record 201 junior games and be named captain of his side for much of his junior career.
It is a record that is unlikely to be challenged soon, with the teenager taking up the sport as a five-year-old and he has already accumulated 70 senior games for Casey.
Stefan’s career will be capped off in January when he plays for Victoria for the first time in the under-18 state team at the Australian Indoor Hockey Championships in Wollongong, New South Wales.
“I was in the under-15 and under-16 Vic Stix squads, but that was just training,” he said. “It’s certainly at the top of my achievements.”
Younger brother Bryan has achieved the most representative success in the family and will join Stefan at the Australian Indoor Hockey Championships with the Victorian under-16 team.
He made his debut at state level at 12 for the Victorian Primary School team and has repeatedly represented his state in both outdoor and indoor competition since, including winning a bronze medal with the Victorian team at last month’s national outdoor championships.
“I’ve learned heaps,” Bryan said. “It’s helped my stamina and my positioning on the field.”
The talented youngster was also recently named as the Casey Junior Hockey Club person of the year for his on and off-field contributions.
He has already compiled more than 150 junior games, although he has conceded he will not be able to overtake Stefan’s record.
Bryan’s senior career has also begun in earnest and he is preparing to embark on the challenge of stepping up to State League One next season.
It means he will have to switch to Waverley Hockey Club, as Casey does not cater for that level of competition.
“It will be harder, but I’m not sure I have made the side yet. I have to go to the training sessions and then they select the team from that,” he explained.
Julian Guy, who has been the president of the Casey Cannons Hockey Club for five years, is in awe of the family.
“We’re a family club at Casey and we make a very strong point of that,” he said.
“The Youngs give us heart. If we can get more families like them in the community, we would all be a lot better off.”
