Success in new field
TONI Cox is the perfect example of a sporting achiever who has spread her wings with great success.
She played club touch rugby in Warwick and represented both Queensland and Australia, before deciding she needed a new challenge and joined the Saints Hockey Club in 2005.
Cox has played in six hockey grand finals with Saints, winning five.
This season her playing ability was recognised and she was named Warwick ladies' player of the year for contributions on and off the field and also joint player of the final with fellow Saints fullback Sian Hegarty.
Last season Cox organised a Warwick women's team to play in the Toowoomba A3 competition.
On grand-final week, she was in the A3 grand final with Warwick, A2 with Past High and the winning veterans' team from Warwick.
With a synthetic hockey field being built in Warwick during the off-season after a flood-recovery grant and thousands of hours of voluntary work, Warwick did not field a women's team in Toowoomba this season but Cox won a second successive premiership with Warwick in veterans and played A1 and A2 women's hockey for Past High.
She loves putting something back into the game and, despite playing three or four games a week, coaches and umpires at junior level.
"I like seeing the juniors enjoy the sport as I do," Cox said.
"The more hockey I play, the more I learn. After only playing for seven years, I am still learning."
She has represented South Australia as a guest player at national veterans' championships in Hobart, Canberra and Perth.
"I have made a lot of good friends through hockey."
As for her awards this season, Cox said hockey was not an individual sport.
"You need your team, opponents, umpires, and committee to make the sport successful."
