Steranko, Andrea

ANDREA STERANKO WAS BORN on 18 July 1983 in Regina, SK, Canada, to parents DD and Gerry Steranko. She honed her skills with the Regina Royals Midgets girls team, where she tallied 48 goals and 37 assists for 85 points over 35 games. From 2002 to 2005, she attended the University of Maine, competing for the Black Bears in NCAA Division 1.

The Canadian athlete led Saskatchewan into a semi-final with Alberta's Oval X-Treme during the 2000 Esso Women's National Hockey Championship. Although her team did not advance to the Final at C200 Arena in Sydney, Nova Scotia, the Regina native was the sole goalscorer for her side and earned Player of the Game honours alongside Hayley Wickenheiser from Alberta. In the following season, Steranko represented Team West in the 2001 U18 Women’s Hockey Challenge, where she scored the opening goal that led to the bronze medal.

Steranko relocated to Australia and in 2009 joined the Brisbane Goannas in the newly established 4-team Australian Women’s Hockey League. The Goannas secured a third-place finish, with Steranko taking part in 7 games and averaging 2.3 points per game.

The following season, the 173cm centre transferred to the Adelaide Assassins, coached by John Botterill and boasting four AWIHL Championships. She strengthened an already formidable roster that included Natasha Farrier and UK import Bethanie Kavanagh, with support from local talents such as Candice Mitchell, Sari Lehmann, Sara Boyce, Di Glass, and the rising star Hollie Bolton in defence. She was selected as team captain.

Botterill remembers “a true women's ice hockey ambassador, a Canadian Prairie Girl who brought this great game and her abilities to Oz! A not so uncommon scenario of the Canuck-Aussie connection—she travelled the country, and obviously loved the country and it's people, and in turn did so much for ice hockey in Australia.”

Steranko concluded that season with 17 goals and 12 assists across 8 games, averaging 3.63 points per game, trailing only Farrier and Kavanagh. The Assassins triumphed in their semi-final and, in front of an enthusiastic home crowd, decisively defeated the Sirens 6-0. Kavanagh, Steranko, and Farrier emerged as the top scorers in the playoffs, which marked Steranko’s first championship and the Assassins' fifth consecutive title.

Steranko married Nicholas Field and took a break from hockey during the 2010-11 season. Farrier played in Canada, while Kavanagh and the Assassins suffered their first championship loss since the League's inception.

The winger made her comeback to the Adelaide Adrenaline in 2012, with 21 goals and 8 assists over 10 games, leading to a victory against Melbourne in the Gold Medal match, 5-2. It was her second title, and she was recognised as the League’s top goal scorer.

In the following season, at the age of 30, she netted 30 goals and provided 16 assists in 12 games, averaging 3.83 points per game. She earned Most Points and Most Goals accolades, but her team fell short in the final against Melbourne, 2-3. She returned for her final season with the Adelaide Adrenaline in 2014. In 2016, she joined the Sydney Sirens for 8 games, scoring 4 goals and 3 assists, and ultimately finishing with a Silver in the Playoffs.

Steranko relocated to Darwin, the hockey capital of the Northern Territory. The team convened weekly at the local pub, being 2400km away from the nearest ice rink in Adelaide. "I love that it takes me 10.5 hours to travel from Adelaide to Darwin, and I love arriving on Monday morning just in time to head straight to work... did I mention I love living in Darwin?" Seven breakaways and four goals in two games were deemed subpar there.

The Australian dual national represented her country at the 2012 Division IIA World Championships in Slovenia. Under the coaching of Rocky Padjen, Kevin Bell, and Lee Brown, she earned the Top Player on Team and a Bronze Medal. She returned for the 2013 Division IIA World Championships in Auckland, New Zealand, again coached by Padjen and Bell, where she won the same award and medal, as well as Most Assists (6) and Most Points (14).

Steranko is now raising a young family in Port Macquarie, New South Wales. “A huge pleasure to coach her and have her in our program!” wrote Coach Botts. “Andrea made AWIHL better, our team better, and every teammate better! A genuine quality of a special player and person.”

As of 2026, Andrea Steranko's 2013 season still holds the record for the most goals in a single season with 34, and she also boasts the League’s second highest points per game average at 2.67. Last season (2025), she led the Coffs Coast Gorillas in C Division of the Challenge Cup Australia, scoring Most Points and Most Goals.