Labrador Sports Club was formed in 1968 as the Labrador Hockey Club by committed parents of students from Labrador State School. The club was incorporated in 1984 and changed its name to Labrador Sports Club Inc in 1994, after the introduction of baseball as a summer sport for its members.
Establishing club members acquired the current site on Musgrave Avenue from the Gold Coast City Council (GCCC) and the grounds were continually developed by members in conjunction with the council, at one point boasting five hockey fields, a baseball diamond, and the Labrador clubhouse. Three grass hockey fields and the baseball diamond made way to allow the Gold Coast Hockey Association (GCHA) to construct the first synthetic field at Keith Hunt Park under agreement between Labrador, GCHA and GCCC where space was also provided for the GCHA Clubhouse.
Labrador’s vision of converting our number one hockey field from a grass surface to a quality water based synthetic field was achieved in 2006. Volunteers have also added to the original Clubhouse and dressing rooms, fenced the two fields, flood lit both fields, installed team dugouts, field width backnets, water harvesting tanks and an electronic scoreboard. The Club has installed a pop up sprinkler irrigation system to our grass field and continues to upgrade it to provide the highest quality grass hockey field in Queensland.
Labrador caters for female and male participants in all junior and senior grades from four year olds through to masters. Currently Club membership is 340 juniors and 135 senior hockey players. They make up 38 junior and 13 senior teams. Over 500 parents of junior players are Club members. This high participation rate is due to our professionally conducted junior hockey development program, which has been conducted since 1991. Labrador Hockey Club conducts lessons at primary schools from Benowa to Coomera to expose children to the sport of Hockey during February/March each year.
Along with high participation rates, Club teams have also been successful, achieving many senior and junior premierships since formation. Labrador won all six Gold Coast senior premierships in 1998, Division I Women for the fifth consecutive year. In 2003 Labrador won five of the six senior premierships including Division 1 Men and Women as well as five of the six junior premierships. Division 1 Men and Women were premiers in 2006. The Division 1 Men were accepted into the Brisbane Hockey League Division 1 competition in 2007, finishing a creditable fifth and third in 2008 and 2009. Division 1 Men and Women won the Gold Coast premiership in 2009. Women for the fifth season in a row.
At Easter 2004, 2005 & 2006 the Club embarked on ambitious projects, junior overseas tours. Club officials escorted an emerging talent squad of Under 18 Girls and Under 16 boys on a nine-day tour of New Zealand North Island, Tasmania and New Zealand South Island respectively. The teams had wonderfully successful tours, both competitively and socially. Also in 2004, Labrador Hockey Club organised its first international player recruit. Silja Lorenzen, a German Under 21 representative, spent the season living with club members and playing with distinction for Labrador Hockey Club. She was selected for the German National team in 2007.
The Club honour boards reveal an impressive record of State and National Representatives, both playing and officiating. Special achievers who have been fostered by Labrador Hockey Club are Debbie Bowman¬Sullivan, captain of the Australian Gold Medal winning team at the Seoul Olympics, Australian representatives Lee Litfin, Australian Veteran representative David Reardon, Debbie Bowman¬Sullivan, Leanne Ferguson, Sonya Palmer, Trudy Farrell, Megan Ward, Dennette Dorron, Sue Dalton and Gail Lomas. Australian Country representatives Dennette Dorron, Belinda Morrison and Claire Jackson, 2002 Australian Schoolboys representative Brad Puleosi, 2007 Australian Schoolboys rep Andrew Taylor and Australian Schoolgirls Rep Emmi Dixon., 2008 Schoolgirls Rep Kandice Olivieri. Julie Ashton-Lucy was ranked the number 1 woman’s international umpire at the 2002 World Cup and officiated at the Athens and Beijing Olympics and 2006 World Cup. Nikki Hudson, one of the worlds best strikers was a member of the Division 1 woman’s team in 2003 2005 and 2006.
Marnie Hudson was a member of the Australian Under 21 World Cup team in 2009. Brent Livermore, an Australian Kookaburra was a member of the BHL 1 men’s team in 2009.
The Club is very proud of its achievements, its family atmosphere and continues to operate under its motto “Families Growing Together in Sport”.