You might leave home, travel the world, find life in different places, however one saying sums up Sharnita Crompton and her journey through ice hockey to the Brisbane Lightning – ‘There is no place like home’.
Crompton – a veteran of the Australian Women’s Ice Hockey League (AWIHL), has done it all throughout her hockey career. Lifted the Joan McKowen Memorial Trophy, medalist for the Australian national team, played ice hockey in different countries, the list goes on.
For Crompton, though, arriving at the Lightning for the 2022/23 season has brought with it comfort both on and off the ice as life goes full circle.
“Yeah, for sure. It’s funny. I think even Tracy [Hocutt] has made a couple of jokes,” Crompton told Hockey Hype Australia.
“Like, oh, where to next and cause, you know, obviously I’ve been with Sydney [Sirens], I’ve been with Adelaide [Rush].
“But I mean honestly, like, I was born in Brisbane and my mum, my stepdad, and my brother, we moved down to the Central Coast, NSW and that’s where I was raised when I was about four.
“And I just lived in Adelaide on a whim and now I actually do feel like I’m home.”
There was a substantial change for the Lightning prior to when Crompton arrived at the club, the previous Brisbane Goannas were to depart, and the team would take the name of their Australian Ice Hockey League men’s team, the Brisbane Lightning, to become one brand, one club.
Led by Tommy Harkness during their first season, the foundations have been well set for the Lightning team moving forward. After finishing last the previous season, the Lightning improved to third-place after the regular season to make finals.
The team will get another taste of Finals hockey this season, as the Lightning clinched a spot in the AWIHL postseason following Week 10 of competition.
“And in terms of the Lightning themselves, I think Tommy [Harkness] set a really good foundation last year,” continued Crompton.
“Obviously, I’m just coming into this, I’ve not seen previous seasons. I’ve heard from the girls, kind of like, you know that perhaps that culture and the work ethic and stuff were missing. And the seriousness of it.
“I think last year Tommy really set that foundation and Matt [Meyer] this year has.
“I think he’s been the best thing for the Lightning that could have become. He’s taking it seriously; he’s got expectations of the girls.
“And there’s just certain things that he’s doing that are making the girls kind of just take a second and go ‘Hang on, well, he’s taking this so seriously, and if he’s giving it this much, you know, dedication and time then maybe we should be too’.
It wasn’t as though the culture and vibe within the Lightning was bad, there is just now a different mindset and approach from the roster heading into a season.
Which is what Crompton wanted to stress, there is now a championship winning mentality at the Lightning this season, who have put together a talented roster.
“Not that like it’s ever been really, really bad in a sense of, [the] girls weren’t caring or anything,” stressed Crompton.
“But I think it’s really helping to fine tune and just get everyone into kind of that, more of a championship team rather than, you know, ‘Oh, we will just come here and have fun and do it because we haven’t got anything better to do’ or whatever it is.
“Not that I am saying I had that attitude.”
Crompton grew up around the ice, stepdad John was a speed skater, so the familiarity of the rink was something the Lightning forward knew.
After watching her brother shift from speed skating to test out the waters with ice hockey, the competitive nature of Crompton would rise to the surface. Wanting to try her hand at the sport after watching from rink side.
It’s here where the journey for Crompton started, and the rest, as they say, is history.
“So, my stepdad – John, he was a speed skater back in the day, like full Lycra and everything,” said Crompton with a laugh.
“And when my brother started getting into sports and stuff, he is kind of talking to my brother and telling me about hockey and everything like that. My brother was like, ‘oh, you know, like, I’d love to give that a go’ and I used to go and watch him.
“At first, he did speed skating, and my brother was like ‘no, that’s not for me’ saw hockey and it was like, ‘yeah, that’s for me’. Tried it and then I would watch him.
“Typical competitive little sister I was like ‘I want to play this sport and I want to be even better than him’ and I want to go in and kind of dominate, I guess.
“But yeah, that’s kind of how we got involved but even my dad like when we were kids, he used to play hockey way back in the day just very casually.
“We were skating and stuff when I was six, seven, eight years old, just at general skates and stuff and school holidays.”
Crompton would taste success as part of the 2016/17 championship Sydney Sirens. However, the journey to lifting the iconic AWIHL trophy began at Erina Ice Arena on the Central Coast.
Joining an academy program at Erina, Crompton would begin the ascent to the top of the mountain, joining pee wees as all kids do, learning the craft of hockey and where she would hone her skills. It’s here Crompton would also be coming up against Australia’s greatest export, current National Hockey League (NHL) and St. Louis Blues player Nathan Walker.
“I started an Academy at Erina when I was 11 years-old,” continued Crompton.
“The next year I played pee wees and that was when Stormy [Nathan Walker] was still playing for Blacktown. I remember my first game and Stormy was playing and we were playing against Blacktown, and this kid, it was my first game ever of ice hockey, and this kid was on his knees dangling people, just doing some insane stuff.
“And I was just like ‘I gotta compete with that’. I just needed a bit more time, I think.
“But when you’re looking at a kid who’s been skating since he was five and then getting out there for my first game, that’s a core memory, to be honest.”
Like the current Sirens roster – who are going through a rebuilding phase after a decade of dominance, Crompton arrived at the Sydney club at a very young age, before moving on to Canada and Sweden.
With the rise of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) it has given hockey players the world over a chance to play professionally, something that Crompton was exposed to when travelling the world playing.
“So, I started pretty young, I think I was like 14 or 15 [years old] I started playing for the Sirens,” said Crompton.
“I played a couple of years and then I think when I was 17, I went to Canada. I had two seasons in Canada, came back, did my trade and then obviously had that stint in Sweden.
“The Sirens have always been a really good organisation. Fantastic to have those formative years playing for that kind of organisation, the community and the support that was around the team. It was really cool.
“For a young player to see that, you can potentially do something with hockey, when I was I think 13, I went to Sweden with the national selects.
“Even just being exposed to that, you start to see like, ‘I can probably do something with this’, you know? And I can make something of myself here.
“The Sirens were definitely instrumental in terms of helping me develop that kind of foundation of not only skills, but progressing from the fourth line, riding the pine, playing where I’m not getting a lot of ice time. And yeah, you got to swallow your pride a bit.
“Pretty much every player has to go through that at some point, right? I went through that for a couple of years there and you just do what you got to do.”
The pinnacle of women’s ice hockey in Australia is the Joan McKowen Memorial Trophy, awarded to the best team following the AWIHL Finals series.
When looking back at her hockey career, winning the gold, and lifting the trophy certainly holds a special place in the heart of Crompton.
“It’s certainly up there, it was a long time coming,” continued Crompton.
“People used to joke that we were silver Sydney, because we just kept going to Grand Finals and losing. I think it was like seven Grand Finals or something, Sharna [Godfrey] would probably know.
“To finally get the gold was massive, it’s a shame that it happened against the [Brisbane] Goannas because they have not forgotten – the girls have brought it up. But yeah, I mean it’s always good to win, right.
“It’s definitely up there with one of my best moments in hockey, for sure.”
Getting to represent your country in any sport is a massive accomplishment, for ice hockey players in Australia it’s a moment that is extra special.
Rinks are sparse, ice time is at a premium, and the commitment to getting the opportunity is more than just from the individual.
Driving from rink to rink, late night or early morning ice sessions, parents play the most important role in a young players hockey career, something the Lightning alternate captain has not forgotten.
“I did the 2012 Youth Olympics as well, which was just incredible,” said Crompton proudly.
“Obviously I’ve worked hard to get to where I am, but I’m also, you know, incredibly fortunate.
“I had a mum that supported me so much and I remember when I was training for the Olympics she would book ice time for me at Liverpool Ice Rink, which was an hour and a half from us at 5:30 AM on a Sunday, and she would take me. And that was just for me and my two coaches to work through the skills.
“The Youth Olympics, getting bronze there was definitely the highlight of my entire career, and I dedicated that medal to my mum because I wouldn’t have made it without her, I wouldn’t have got it.
“Obviously, I work hard but there are some things that are out of your control, and she really helped to make them as good as they could be.
“Playing for Team Australia, there’s nothing else like it. You put on that green and gold and you see the kangaroo on the front, and you can’t explain it. It’s just a different kind of feeling.
“And there’s a lot of pressure in those tournaments obviously, because you’re only playing a five-game tournament and every second counts like those three weeks are just some of the best.”
However, for Crompton the focus now is on the current Lightning season and trying to bring a cup to Brisbane for the first time.
After securing their position in the top four and clinching a finals spot, the next step is climbing as high up the AWIHL standings as possible during the remaining weeks of the regular season.
Furthermore, belief within the Lightning camp is high, with quality imports, mixed with local talent and rising young stars, the Lightning are a real title contender.
“I definitely feel that we are contenders,” continued Crompton.
“I think there’s a few things that we need to develop still internally, and you know keep working on but the direction that we’re heading in, I think is the right one and again that comes back to Matt [Meyer] as well.
“You know, obviously he’s at the head, manning this, and he couldn’t be doing a better job, so the vibes are definitely on, and it feels good.”
Fan interactions and being close to the players is something that the AWIHL does well, it’s a small, close-knit community. For Crompton, it extends beyond the photo opportunities and signing a puck, fan made signs can be found in the stands.
Now a league wide phenomenon, Neat Neat Crompton has become synonymous with Sharnita the hockey player. Something the Lightning star thinks we should have more of across the league.
“You’re going to have to interview my cousin honestly,” laughed Crompton.
“She’s a diehard fan of the A-Dub (AWIHL) and well both of them are my biggest supporters, aside from my partner Glen [Forbes-White].
“But I don’t know where it came from, I think that they just came up with the idea of like oh ‘it’s Noot Noot’ but it’s Neat Neat. And then they made the sign and then Pingu had the logo and it just kind of came together.
“They came to one of my [Adelaide] Rush games with it and I was just like ‘that’s the best sign ever’, and then it just slowly like over time progressed and developed, now it’s laminated instead of glued.”
Next on the list for Crompton and the fan club, is a sign with Neat Neat holding the Joan McKowen Memorial Trophy.
Which isn’t a stretch, as the Brisbane Lightning are peaking at the right time and primed for a strong tilt at the AWIHL crown.
Leave a Reply