McBryde family's hockey success

WITH a hockey field right next to the street where they grew up, Ian McBryde reckons it's no wonder he, his two brothers and his sister grew up to be such talented hockey players.

The McBrydes grew up on Treasure Street in Maryborough, a street that has produced more than its fair share of hockey stars in its day.

Two Australian hockey captains grew up on the street – John, Ian's brother, and Don McWatters, their close friend who grew up just down the road.

All of them played for the University of Queensland – and when the university's team of the 20th Century was named last week, two of the McBryde brothers and McWatters were included in the side.

Bruce McBryde, who was honoured for 50 years of service with the university hockey side on the night, was unlucky to miss out on a spot in the team but Ian, John and Don were proud to be part of the side.

Di McBryde, who Ian says was unlucky not to play for Australia, was also there on Saturday night and the group enjoyed a reunion.

The McBrydes have notched up 211 years of playing hockey between them. Ian wryly says he is lagging behind the pack with only 44 years – hip problems meant he had to give the game away a few years ago.

His sister Di played for 47 years while his brothers, John and Bruce, have both been playing for more than 60 years respectively.

To be included in the university side the players needed to have represented Queensland and played a minimum of 50 games for the university.

Ian, Don and John have all done so much more.

All three were Australian hockey players and John and Don both captained the side, with John playing for Australia from 1960 to 1966.

He represented Australia at the 1960 Olympics in Rome and at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.

Don played for Australia from 1961 to 1968 and played in the 1964 Olympics and at Mexico City in 1968.

Ian said the reason John made the 1960 side and Don didn't was John took a year off from university and concentrated solely on hockey while Don continued working while also trying to qualify.

While both were equally talented, Ian said the extra training made the difference.

“It takes a lot of dedication.”

The two have made their mark in coaching as well, with John coaching Canada and McWatters coaching Australia.

Another Maryborough talent was named in the university's team of the decade, Greg Collins, a former Queensland under-18 and under-12 representative.