For Ex-Services, there’s something a little bit special about the 2017 women’s Premier League Hockey season.
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Outside the fact they’re killing it at the moment, incredibly, there is three mother-daughter combinations lining up for the blue and golds.
One parent being able to play with their son or daughter, in any given sport, is rare enough, let alone three.
“It is pretty special, there’s myself and Lily, Deb and Kayla Orrock and Leanne (Kennewell) and Annaleise (Kukla) too,” Ex-Services stalwart Ali Baker enthused.
“I’ve been retired for a long time but Lily said she wanted to have a crack (at PLH full-time), but didn’t want to go up without me, so I’m back, and here for the year now.
“We’re all very proud, I also played with Kayla before she moved to Darwin and coached Annaleise through the juniors too, so it’s quite special for all of us to play together.
“It definitely brings a familiarity to the side.”
On top of that, Ex-Services also have the Barrett sisters – Chloe and Sarah – in their side, while skipper Shian Duboc is Kennewell’s sister-in-law and Kukla’s aunt as well.
Incredibly, Linda Wilson, who runs the side’s bench of a weekend and trains too – she’s Ali Baker’s cousin.
That familiarity is a factor obviously helping the blue and golds, they’ve only dropped one game from six to start the season.
“We’re going along pretty well, there is a bit of a different feel this year,” Baker said.
“In past years we’ve always been there in the top five but we’ve put so much pressure on ourselves, that’s not there this year.
“At the start of the season we weren’t sure how we’d go, so we didn’t really have any expectations on us. We’ve been a lot more relaxed because of that and I think that’s really helping us on the field.”
Ex-Services continue their campaign against Bathurst St Pat’s on the weekend, one of two sides the blue and golds are locked in a battle for third place with.
Although, they’re only third because Confederates have played an extra game and shifted up to second as a result of that win.
“It’s always a tough game against St Pat’s,” Baker said, adding the lead-up to Saturday’s game has been superb.
“We’ve had the week off and sometimes that can let complacency creep in but everyone, especially the younger girls, we’re all really keen for training so I don’t think it’ll be an issue.”
Ex-Services host St Pat’s from 1.55pm.