Horner, Clinton

BORN AUGUST 19TH 1967 at Scarborough ON Canada, his father was from South Africa and his mother from Mauritius. He moved to Vancouver at the age of one and began ice hockey at age six. He played minor hockey at the Riley Park and Killarney rinks in Vancouver until his parents moved to Sydney Australia in 1982, where they arranged a spot for him with the Macquarie Bears. He was a Bantam A player who had just turned 15 when he arrived a short time later to play at the new Macquarie rink. The family then relocated to the Gold Coast in Queensland where he played senior hockey and went to school at Merrimac. He credits his development to state team coach, Bruce Rolin, "I owe a lot to him for his guidance on and off the ice. Also to Jim Fuyarchuck and John Botterill. They all assisted in my mental development".

He played his first Brown Trophy in Perth at age 15 and represented Queensland in many Tange (U18) and Brown (U23) tournaments, and one Goodall Cup series in Adelaide. Queensland crushed all comers in the Tange Trophy in Adelaide around 1984, with Todd Johnson and he at the center of their respective lines. In another unforgettable tournament in Perth, he recalls scoring 10 goals and assisting 5 others for a total of 15 for his state. Always representing Queensland in nationals, he played most hockey in the Sunshine State, except a season with the Canberra Knights in the New South Wales Super League in the early-1990s.

He played in the Asian Oceanic Championships with the National Youth Team (U18) in Korea in 1985 when Sandy Logan was GM, and with the National Junior Team in Esbjerg Denmark in 1987. On a line with Murray Wand in Korea, he scored a goal and assisted Wand's equaliser against the home team, which at the time was the best Australia had done in an International Tournament. "I think you will find a write up in the Australian Olympic paper". He did not play senior for Australia, "nobody asked, got out of shape. David Batho and I tried out in 1993. He made it, I was a final cut. Stopped after that for a while".

He was also a Level 3 referee and once officiated a game between Queensland and a visiting team from NSW where he had to intervene in a fight involving Queensland's Peter Nixon. "Nicko was still punching his opponent while I was holding his arm!" He really enjoyed being a part of Australian Hockey history and its development, "specially for QLD and wearing the green and gold". He returned to Canada in 1997 after a 3-year stint playing in Christchurch and Auckland in New Zealand. Now married with a son Hayden, 7, and daughter Jade, 9. Both skate and Jade is an outstanding competitive swimmer while Hayden is in soccer and basketball. He works at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls. He still plays 3 tournaments a year and is on the ice three days a week. Often asked where he played junior hockey, "They get surprised when I tell them Aussie".