When Graeme "Chas" McKenzie peers back in time, through the recesses of his mind, a nascent hockey memory is of him as an eight-year-old playing for Workies at the Riverside fields.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Fifty years later, and he is still playing for Workies - but in the masters competition.
Read also:
In the preceding years, McKenzie subsumed his late parent's deep love of the game (Colin and Daphne were Tamworth Hockey Association life members). His hockey CV includes playing first grade in Newcastle and Tamworth, coaching junior and senior teams, a long-term stint as THA president and a current long-term stint on Hockey NSW's board.
The Tamworth Regional Council's manger of Project Management and Engineering Services was instrumental in the development of the annual York Cup and Kim Small Shield, which he convenes.
A more loyal servant of the game you will not find, his identity inextricably linked to hockey - just like his parents before him, and now his son, Tim, who plays first grade for Workies and is a leading referee on the national stage.
Hockey, McKenzie says, was "always there" in his life: omnipresent and a glorious source of life-enhancing pleasures. He sounds like a proud parent when talking about the recently concluded multimillion-dollar upgrade of the Tamworth Hockey Centre. "It's wonderful to see that emerge," he says.
On the cusp of his 58th birthday, McKenzie's passion for the sport is undiminished. When asked, for this interview, if he would like a final word, he took the opportunity to spruik the ability for hockey to make a person's life richer.
"One of the highlights for me is the atmosphere that's out in the hockey family we've got here. And it's, I guess, a micro-culture within Tamworth. It's a really supportive environment, family orientated.
"I guess I'm a big believer in it takes a village to raise a child, and it's a good village out there ... it provides wonderful opportunities."
The father of three refers to his wife, Miriam, a Tamworth GP, as a "long-suffering hockey widow". The couple met in 1984 when they were studying at the University of Newcastle (he is an engineer). Five years later they married.
And at the conclusion of the hockey season in 1991 (he played first grade for the university) they moved to Tamworth to raise a family.
"We deliberately came back to Tamworth for the kids to have their cousins to grow up with ... it's been a wonderful city for the kids to grow up in," he says.
McKenzie's last first-grade coaching role was with the Waratahs women's side - and it was premiership-winning reign. He has always played for Workies in Tamworth, except for one season: he joined South United when they were short of players.
The only yellow card of his career occurred in a game against Workies, who included his elder brother, Ian, a teacher at McCarthy Catholic College.
"And as I ran past my brother, he said: 'Oh, bad luck, Chas' [Chas is short for his middle name, Charles]. The referee thought he said something derogatory to him, and sent him off as well." (McKenzie chuckled upon recalling the image of him turning around and discovering his brother following him off the field).
Another cherished memory was playing third grade with his two sons, Ian and Alexander. His daughter, Jessie, played rep hockey for Tamworth, as did her brothers.
He describes playing with his sons as being a "fleeting moment when they're on the ascent and I'm on the descent".
He is "barely playing" these days. "It's getting rapidly close to moving on to golf, I'm thinking."
