Oliver (née Bruske), Kristy

BORN JANUARY 21ST, 1987 in Perth WA Australia, the daughter of John and Cheryl, she first played hockey in Perth in 1997 at the age of ten. She spent her formative junior development years at the ice arena in Perth, competing in the local boy's and men's leagues. She first represented her state in the Ginsberg Memorial Cup (U13) national tournament in 1999, and continued each year until about 2009 in every national age band for which she was eligible — Ginsberg, Defris (U15), Tange (U18) and Brown (U21). She joined the only state women's team as soon as it was founded in 2002 and the next year she played her first McKowen for WA, her first national women's championship.

She was a player in the first games of the women's Showcase Series in 2005 for the combined Melbourne- Canberra team, and she became a foundation player of the Australian Women's Ice Hockey League in 2006 with the Brisbane Goannas. She remained with the club until her retirement seven years later in 2013. Coached and mentored by Tamra Jones, she commuted all those years between Perth and Brisbane to play.

She first represented Australia at the Women's Worlds in 2004 coached by "superstar" Kathy Berg, and again in 2005. She returned in 2007 with the "amazing duo" of Rocky Padjen and Kevin Bell for the rest of her seven World championships (2011, '12, '13). Her career highlights include a Gold medal in 2007 with Team AUS and the Best Goalie award at the 2012 World Championships with her first two Worlds shutouts. She also won Silver in 2011 and Bronze in 2012 and 2013. She says she remains forever indebted to those four coaches — Berg, Padjen, Bell and Jones — and to team manger Kylie Taylor for shaping her early development. "Thanks to the fans and to everyone involved in the national and international programs I got to participate in".

A personal trainer by day, she is also involved with the development program for the Australian Women’s Under-18 Team, assisting with fitness programs and recent junior development training camps, particularly the young goalies. Since retiring as a player she has taken up marathon running and triathlons, completing two Ironman Triathlons in 2012 and 2014.