History was in the making for Parkes and possibly NSW Women’s Hockey when veteran hockey master and Parkes woman Fran Dixon played at the NSW Women’s Masters Championships in Taree.
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Fran and her daughters Tracy Hambridge, Deanna Dollery and Kylie Butler made up one of the four teams that represented Parkes at the titles in July.
It was also the first time in their playing careers they all played together.
Fran started playing in Forbes at the age of 13 when she started high school, asking her father to buy her a hockey stick so she could practice with her older sister.
She continued to play in Forbes until 1970.
After her marriage to Graham in 1971, she moved to Parkes and has continued to play to this present day.
Fran was very involved in helping in the junior ranks as her children began to play taking a leadership role as junior director in the mid-80s for about 10 years.
She was later honoured with life membership to the Parkes Hockey Association.
Fran has represented Parkes Woman’s Veterans, now Masters, for over 30 years, receiving a gold jumper for 50 years and green jumper for 60 years.
She was also honoured to be selected in 2010 in the NSW Women’s Masters Team playing in the Australian Championships in Canberra.
Fran was a shadow player in 2011 and again this year, for the over 65s team.
Tracy, Deanna and Kylie all attended Parkes East Public then Parkes High School.
Tracy represented both schools playing hockey, as well as the Parkes Hockey Association.
She now lives in Canberra and is still playing hockey for the UNI club she joined when first moving to Canberra for study.
Tracy represented the ACT in the over 35s at the Australian Championships in 2010.
She’s also played in a Parkes Masters team for the past seven years
Deanna represented both primary, high schools and Parkes Hockey at many championships.
She lives in Orange and, after returning to the country from the city, started playing hockey again.
She played for Orange in the Masters in 2013.
Kylie also represented both her primary and high schools, as well as competing at state and other championships.
Kylie was a member of the Parkes High School Hockey team that won the combined NSW championships in 1998.
Kylie lives in Port Macquarie and plays in the local competition.
