Orange’s own leading ladies

ORANGE trio Sue Hope, Mel Hope and Alex Murray are no strangers to the Australian Veterans Women’s Hockey Championships.

But the chance to represent NSW this year has them doubly excited about playing in the 2010 event at Canberra in October.

Mother-daughter combination Sue and Mel Hope both contested the championships last year, where Mel represented NSW in the over-35s side and Sue represented South Australia in the over-60s team.

But this year the dynamic duo will both don the colours of their home state, as will Murray, who represented the ACT over-35s last year after being named as a shadow for the NSW team.

It’s an opportunity all three are looking forward to after earning selection following Orange’s campaign at the Hockey NSW Women’s Veterans South State Championships in Parkes late last month.

“It’s fantastic. It’s even more exciting to be back as part of the Blues’ camp this time. I played for South Australia last year and over the years I’ve played for different states but this is the third time I’ve been picked for NSW and I’m really looking forward to it,” Sue said.

Mel Hope described last year’s tournament as a positive experience, adding she is looking forward to teaming up with “a great bunch of girls” again.

One of her new team-mates in the over-35s will be Murray, who took plenty away from representing the ACT last year.

“The professionalism of the vets and how professional the teams are was great to see,” she said.

“The competition was of a really high standard. It’s exciting to see age groups up to the 60s enjoying hockey. It’s a good example of how sport brings about friendships. It’s inspiring to see it and hopefully I can still be running around at 60.”

The six NSW teams (35s, 40s, 45s, 50s, 55s and 60s) will meet in Canberra for two days of training on September 28 before the nine-day championships begin on October 1.

Orange’s Ruth Dwyer has been named as a shadow for the NSW over-60s, while Lorraine Cullen is a shadow for the over-55s side.