BROGAN, Melanie

BORN 10 JUNE 1979, Melanie Brogan is the daughter of John Brogan, who operated the Dandenong Skate Centre in Plunkett Road, Dandenong. Her father saved the centre from closing when she and her two sisters began skating there in the mid-80s. At its peak, it hosted nearly one hundred games for the Victorian Inline Hockey Championships during the Queen’s Birthday long weekends. In 1996, Brogan won the inline nationals representing Victoria and was chosen for the All-Australian Team at the age of 16.

Brogan also captained and coached the Generals in Melbourne’s South East Women’s Hockey League (SEWHIL). The SEWHIL was Victoria’s first affiliated women’s ice hockey league established in 1997. It grew from its inaugural season in 1998 to boast six teams and close to one hundred players by 2003. The Blackhawks, Polar Bears, Timberwolves, Magic, and Oakleigh Angels vied for the Foundation Cup on Thursday evenings at Ringwood Ice Arena.

Formed in 1998-99, Brogan said, the Generals “went to Magic after I got the sponsorship from Christian hockey to become Christian Magic.” Made up almost entirely of inline hockey players, they were a formidable force in women's hockey.

In 1999, the 176cm D won the national championship for the McKowen Trophy with Victoria. She repeated this feat again in the 2001 McKowen, where Victoria triumphed undefeated with a goal differential of 49:7. The team was coached by Jimmy Smith, with Dean Glew assisting and Laura Vujovich serving as the trainer. Brogan played a significant role in this success, alongside Sarah Fogarty, Jo Schoof, Tai Mulitalo and Anna Matus in defence, along with Gina Carroll and Emma Reid in goal. They managed to shut out Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland, while limiting the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales to minimal scores.

Brogan returned to the McKowen national at Boondall in Brisbane in 2002, and also won gold with the Australian inline team. In 2003, she represented Australia at the IIHF Division 3 Women’s World Championships in Maribor, Slovenia. She won gold and also earned the title of Most Goals by a Defenseman (3) on a squad coached by Kathy Berg. Brogan did not return to the national team afterward. In late April of that year, she led Australia to victory at the Oceania Roller Sports Championships held in Carrara, Queensland.

In 2005-06, Brogan was one of the founding members of the AWIHL Women’s Showcase Series with the Melbourne Flames, a precursor to the Melbourne Ice Women. In 2007, she was still serving as the captain of the Australian inline team.

While daily crowds of about 1500 people packed into the Dandenong Skate Centre, it was the Barbies – a women’s team led by Brogan – who quickly became the fan favourites in an entertaining series of battles with the men. Brogan led the Barbies to the bronze medal against the men in the Open B Grade division of the 2008 Victorian Inline Hockey Championships. She also served as the captain of Victoria when the state clinched the inline national title in 2008. Another national inline championship followed in 2012. No doubt there were others.

Brogan played for the Brisbane Goannas in the 2012-13 season of the Australian Women’s Ice Hockey League (AWIHL). She still plays competitive inline hockey. Last year, she was the top scorer with the Adelaide Jaguars in the Bendigo Cup, as well as Grand Final MVP and top points scorer with both the Dekes of Hazzard and the Lumberjacks during the 2024 Winter Classic at the Australian Club Championships.

Mel Brogan, whose career in competitive hockey has now entered a fifth decade, led the way on the ice for many young players from Victoria during the 1990s and 2000s.