Christine Dobson

Sports Hall of Fame Inductee

The first Shepparton athlete to be selected in the Olympic Games was a male in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. 36 years later the first female athlete from Shepparton won selection in the 1992 Barcelona Games.

It was in the sport of Hockey that saw Shepparton proudly able to boast our first female Olympian had arrived in the person of Christine Dobson. The Dobson name had been well known in sporting circles for decades and it was no surprise to see this brilliant player from the Windangs Hockey club in Shepparton make it to International standard.

It was obvious from the moment that Christine joined Windangs that she had special talent and it was no time before she was representing the Shepparton Hockey Association.

Given great support from her mother Margo and father Noel, Christine travelled to Melbourne to selection trials and won selection in the Victorian team. She became a top Victorian player and represented her State over 10 years from 1983 - 1993

Her performances for Victoria were noticed by national selectors and she was elevated into the Australian National hockey team.

So Christine found herself jetting around the world to play international Hockey for Australia.

In total Christine played 55 games of international hockey for the Australian team, scoring six goals and being a part of the team which won the silver medal in the 1990 Hockey World Cup. The culmination of her wonderful career was her selection in the Australian hockey team for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

Christine Dobson had provided the impetus for other hockey players from Shepparton to realise their ambitions and try for high class representation.

Shepparton was so proud of our first female Olympian as she gave her all on the world stage.