The Tassie Van Demons were a nationally competing women's hockey team based in Tasmania, Australia. Coached by Ilene Carr, they competed in the Australian Hockey League. Some of the former coaches of the Van Demons include David Guest, Oliver Close, Zain Wright, and Ilene Carr.
2018 Australian Hockey League campaign
The Van Demons participated in the final Australian Hockey League (AHL) after it was announced by Hockey Australia that the national competition would be dissolved after the 2018 competition in favour of a "revamped" league in 2019. They were drawn in Pool A alongside the Canberra Strikers, NSW Arrows, and the Queensland Scorchers.
The Van Demons squad for the 2018 AHL was announced on 25 July 2018 with Ilene Carr again appointed as head coach. Brett Withington joined the staff as assistant coach with Greer Wells announced as the team manager. Maddison Curtis and Jemma Kenworthy withdrew from the initial squad and were replaced with Molly Haas and Laura Spandler. The squad was notable for being 100 per cent Tasmanian, with no international or out-of-state imports selected for the first time in years.
*when announced.
Round 1 (Tasmanian Hockey Centre, Hobart) The Van Demons played their first pool match against Canberra on Saturday, 6 October 2018 at their home ground the Tasmanian Hockey Centre in Hobart, Tasmania. The Strikers won 3–0 with Hockeyroo Naomi Evans scoring a field goal in the 12th minute, and Meredith Bone scoring a field goal and a field goal conversion in the 55th minute.
Round 2 (Tasmanian Hockey Centre, Hobart) Their second pool match was against New South Wales on Sunday, 14 October 2018, again at their home ground the Tasmanian Hockey Centre. The Arrows fielded a strong team featuring five Australian national team representatives, compared to Tasmania's zero, and won comfortably 8–1. Jessica Watterson scored a field goal and a field goal conversion in the 13th minute, Kate Jenner scored from a penalty corner in the 26th minute, and Grace Stewart scored a field goal and a field goal conversion in the 30th minute to give the Arrows a 5–0 lead at half-time. Sarah Johnston scored from a penalty corner in the 54th minute and Grace Stewart again scored a field goal and conversion in the 55th minute, before Samantha Lawrence scored a consolation goal for the Van Demons in the 60th minute.
Round 3 (State Hockey Centre, Brisbane) Tasmania's final pool match was away against Queensland on Saturday, 20 October 2018 at the State Hockey Centre in Brisbane, Queensland. The Scorchers fielded a star-studded team featuring eight Australian national team representatives, easily accounting for the Van Demons with a 15–0 win. Stephanie Kershaw scored a field goal and conversion in the 3rd minute, Rosie Malone did the same in the 10th minute, and Rebecca Greiner also scored a field goal and conversion in the 23rd minute. Queensland had their PumpPlay, where all goals (except for conversions) are worth 2, in the final five minutes of the first half, and during that period Malone scored a PumpPlay field goal and conversion, and Jodie Kenny scored a PumpPlay penalty stroke and conversion, to balloon the half-time score out to 12–0 in favour of the Scorchers. In the second half Queensland added only three more goals to their total, with Jordyn Holzberger scoring from a penalty corner in the 39th minute before Malone took her match tally to 7 with a field goal and conversion in the 46th minute.
Finals week (Gold Coast Hockey Centre, Gold Coast) The Van Demons finished last in Pool A and went into the finals week at the Gold Coast Hockey Centre with a difficult path towards a title challenge, needing to beat the Victorian Vipers (who finished top of Pool B after winning all three of their games) in the quarter-final.
Quarter-final: Van Demons vs Vipers, Thursday 25 October 2018
Victoria scored in the 5th minute with Hayley Padget scoring a field goal and conversion. In the second quarter they were awarded two penalty strokes in quick succession, in the 18th and 20th minutes, and these were converted by Madi Ratcliffe and Lily Brazel respectively. Brazel scored a field goal and conversion in the 41st minute to deliver Victoria a 6–0 win over Tasmania.