WHITE, Rachael

BORN 13 NOVEMBER 1986, Rachael White began ice hockey around 1995-6 and honed her skills in the local leagues with the Blacktown Flyers, under the guidance of coach Terry Jones. Her favourite player was Elle Jones, and their team won the state title in 1998 when White was 11. The 170cm forward represented New South Wales in the Australian Women’s Ice Hockey Championships, winning the 2002 Joan McKowen Trophy. Peter White coached the team of notable players, including Kaylee Reitsma (White), Liz Caruso, Suz Law, Melissa Rulli, Melissa Bibby and others. The forward went on to a notable career in the national league and the Australian National Team.

Later, White played local hockey with the Penrith Phantoms. In 2006, she was a trailblazer in the national league, competing with the Sydney Sirens from the first AWIHL Showcase Series. In the 2008-09 AWIHL Season, she finished third in scoring behind Adelaide’s Tash Farrier and import Kristin Miyauchi (a draft pick of the Calgary Inferno in 2011). She scored 17 goals and assisted 7 others, averaging 2 points per game.

In a thrilling 2009-10 AWIHL Semi-final before a full crowd, White spearheaded the Sirens’ efforts with a remarkable three-goal performance, leading to a 4-3 overtime victory against the Melbourne Dragons and securing a spot in the finals. White concluded the season ranked seventh in league scoring with a total of 9 goals and 12 assists. Later that season, she won the Australian National Championship with New South Wales, under the guidance of coach Kevin Price. This was the state’s fifth straight championship.

During the 2010-11 AWIHL Season, White once more finished the season in a tie for seventh place among the top scorers with 6 goals and 8 assists, and the following season, she finished in a tie for eighth place with 6 goals and 12 assists. She served as the alternate captain for the North Star Sirens and retired in the 2012-13 season, having taken part in eight seasons without securing the AWIHL Championship. Nevertheless, her local team were state Premiers in 2009 and 2011 and earned three silver medals from 2009 to 2011.

At 16, White made her first appearance for Australia at the 2003 Division III IIHF World Championships held in Slovenia. The squad, under the guidance of Kathy Berg, Tamra Jones and Laura McKenzie, won a Gold medal and achieved promotion. White ranked as the third-top point scorer for Australia after Steph Boxall and Melissa Bibby, and was tied for sixth place overall.

Still just 17 years old, she returned to the 2004 Worlds held in Vipiteno, Italy. During the 2007 Worlds in Sheffield, England, she achieved the Best Plus/Minus score of +10 and won her second Division 3 gold medal under Coach Rocky Padjen. She continued in 2008 in Vierumaki, Finland, back home in Newcastle in 2011, and then to Maribor, Slovenia in 2012, where the team earned a Bronze medal.

Following her retirement, White tried out for the women's rugby sevens team with the aspiration of competing in the 2016 Olympic Games.