Padjen, Rocky

BORN JUNE 21ST 1953 in Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island, Canada, the son of Croatian-born John Ivan (Dida) and his wife Annie. His father served in the Canadian Army until War's end, worked for Hillcrest lumber company and WFI until retirement, and was a proud member of Lake Cowichan Fire Department for 27 years, retiring as Assistant Fire Chief.

He talks about the incredible challenges facing Australian ice hockey players in pursuit of their international dreams. He mostly means the money challenge, the $2,500 it costs to play one season in the national league, and twice that for a Worlds campaign.

He speaks with that booming Canadian drawl, belying the fact that he has lived here, not there, most of his sixty-six years. He tells you the tougher players are the ones who play local competition with and against men. He knows because his daughter Rylie, a 32 year-old defenseman and current Captain of Australia, has represented the nation a dozen times for 60 games.

He played minor hockey around Duncan from the late-1960s and in representative teams against other towns. With very little natural ice on the Island, perhaps a few weeks each season, and no Junior B league until the year after he left, he played his last hockey there for the Faculty of Forestry at the University.

He arrived in Adelaide, South Australia, in the early-1970s with George Dashwood, and joined the Red Wings in the local league. He married and returned to Canada for 2 years in 1979. Back in Australia, he moved to Canberra, started Dan & Dan Landscaping in 1981, and raised a family. His interest in women's ice hockey was sparked by his daughter, Riley, who played ice hockey in the boy's leagues in Canberra in the 1990s. He became a Level 3 accredited coach and took over when the ACT's women's team needed a new boss.

As ACT women climbed the ladder, Kathy Berg, the National Women's Team Coach based in Canada, invited the coaches of the top 3 women's teams to be involved in the 2004 national camp. In 2005, he helped out as Equipment Manager with the NWT in South Africa. In 2007, when Berg could no longer continue in the unpaid role, he stepped in and became Director of the National Women's Program with Dawn Watt.

Discussions with some of the AIHL founders, including Wayne Hellyer and John Raut, opened a pathway to a new league. In the mid-2000s, he and Watt set up the Showcase Series modeled on the AIHL mini-series of the late-1990s. From there they were able to establish the Australian Women's Ice Hockey League with Tamra Jones in 2007.

He succeeded Kathy Berg as coach of the National Women's Team the same year and won gold. Kylie Taylor took over the women's program, and he took Australia to a silver medal and two bronze (2011 to 2013). After ten years and 5 world championships, he retired from coaching. He said the highlight of his career was successfully working himself out of the job, but traditional rivals New Zealand, Great Britain, Holland and Slovenia quickly left Australia in their wake.

When the nation was left without a medal from the next two Women's Worlds, he searched abroad for a new NWT coach and in 2015 recruited Lindsay McAlpine, a former Canadian women's league player in Edmonton. The NWT has since returned to its earlier form.

A Life Member of the national association, he also started the Canberra Senators in the old-timers league and still plays old timers hockey into his sixties. An award in the League is named in his honour. Canberran Steven Lee says Padjen has great skills on the ice. "He's always having fun, and he is a wonderfully level-headed person, cool and calm. In 2001, he and a small group resuscitated and rescued hockey in Canberra, and he has provided jobs for many imports and never sought recognition. A huge example to all of us of what it means to give to your sport". [2]

Rocky Padjen's contribution to Australian ice hockey is more valuable than most because he stepped in as Director of the National Women's Program when Coach Berg could no longer continue. Because he succeeded Berg as coach of a Gold medalling team, continuing on for ten years and five world championships. And because he co-founded the Australian Women's Ice Hockey League.

"They've done a good job," said Berg of the women's ice hockey program. "And Rocky from hockey Padjen kept it going". Padjen believed it possible to put Australian women on the world hockey map. It's no secret the top women still get much less financial help than the top men. But that does not explain why the professionalism of the evolving women's program has raised the bar for every other program in the sport.

"Your years of contributions fighting for equality for the women's game in Australia will be forever remembered," says Tamra Jones. [4] Coach Berg said the national women's program would have never survived but for Padjen's passion, dedication and unwavering support. [3] His proudest moment in the sport was watching his daughter Rylie top her team.

In 2020, the Hockey Hall of Fame Australia elected Rocky Padjen to Honoured Membership.