Mitchell, Candice

BORN MAY 12TH, 1981 in Adelaide Australia, to Dennis and Teresa, she attended Gleeson College and developed a long standing interest in skating, mainly through public sessions at the rink. She began playing hockey in 1994 when she was 13, at a time when there was no league for female players. Instead, she played in the junior leagues with the boys alongside Shae Ganac, Belinda James and Renee Molony.

A 162 cm (5’4”) defender, she started with the Eskimos, the club that became the Falcons, and then the Bears, who became the Tigers. Eventually in 1995, there was enough interest in Adelaide to form a female league, and she played for the Black Widows and eventually the Flames. She was also a player with the She Devils, the first touring team from South Australia.

In 1996, she first played the Nationals for the McKowen Trophy, and was selected to the 2nd All Star Line. She continued for a number of years and from January to February 1999, she played on the touring Australian Junior Women's Team against ISL high school teams in Boston USA. In 2000, she represented Australia in the first Women’s Worlds qualification team, and returned for a total of 7 World Championships over 13 years (2000, '01, '03, '04, '05, '07, '13).

National Team Coach, Kathy Berg, was a big influence on her career. “Not only did she teach me about the game, but my experiences with the National team under her guidance taught me much more about myself off the ice," she said. "Kathy had a level of expectation that we would strive to achieve and this helped foster determination, commitment and resilience".

"You wore the National jersey not just with pride, but with passion, commitment and dedication," said Berg in 2017. "You lead by example". In 2002, an Olympic Year when there was no World Championship, she toured Christchurch with the National Women’s Team.

In 2005 and 2006, she won the Joan McKowen Trophy back-to-back representing South Australia. In 2006-07, she played the Showcase series, the forerunners to the Australian Women’s Ice Hockey League, and in 2007 she was a foundation player in the AWIHL with the Adelaide Assassins, including the captaincy from 2007 until 2011. The Assassins won the first five AWIHL championships straight. In 2007, she was Captain of the National Women’s Team who won Gold undefeated, and Captain again in 2013. In 2008, she returned to Gleeson College as a Physical Education and Science Teacher.

She was a long-time captain of the Adelaide Adrenaline in the AWIHL — 2011 to 2016 — all up, claiming six of the first seven AWIHL Championships. By the end of her International career she had played the most women's games for Australia (30), equal with Melissa Bibby. In 2017, she was Assistant Coach of the Adelaide Rush in the AWIHL and became an inaugural inductee to the AWIHL 100 game club.