Intro
Photo: Perth Thundersticks women are back-to-back champions after a thrilling victory over Hockey Club Melbourne in the 2025 Women's Hockey One League Grand Final.
As current back-to-back Hockey One premiers and recently crowned SportWest Team of the Year, the Thundersticks women are chasing a historic three-peat.
Hockey WA CEO, Graham Reid said the value and inspiration the team provides stems from more than trophy wins, but visibility.
‘Back to back Hockey One titles in 2024 and 2025 showed young girls in WA that elite success is local, achievable and female,” he said.
‘Our Thundersticks athletes don’t just perform on the national stage, they actively engage in clubs, schools and HookIn2Hockey programs, turning elite visibility into grassroots connection.”
Hockey remains one of Australia’s strongest female team sports, particularly for girls aged 5 to 14, where WA continues to show stable to improving participation.
Entry level programs like HookIn2Hockey remain a strength, with girls consistently making up almost 50 per cent of participants and strong conversion into junior competition.
For the past 3 seasons, Hockey WA has been supported by the WA Government’s Women’s National League Teams Grants Program worth $300,000.
The program assists State sporting associations with sustainable female sporting pathways and programs through to the high-performance level.
“Our girls need to see multiple definitions of success, not just elite performance,” Mr Reid said.
“While participation is shaped by many factors, our 2024–2025 data shows junior female engagement has remained stable to improving, particularly among girls aged 9 to 14 – one of hockey’s strongest cohorts in WA.”
“For many girls in Perth, the pathway is no longer abstract – it’s observable.’
Good news continues to flow for Hockey, with the WA Government’s $163 million investment towards Perth Hockey Stadium.
This funding is helping transform the site into a world-class facility that will be the official home of Hockey Australia's Centre of Excellence and High-Performance Program.
The purpose-built centre at Curtin University, will support all levels of hockey, from community games to major national and international competitions.
The new Australian Hockey Centre project is being delivered as part of PlayOn WA, the State Government's initiative to deliver 2,030 community sport and recreation infrastructure items across WA by the year 2030.
All photographs courtesy of Hockey WA