Amanda Jane Hooper (née Christie, 1980 – 22 February 2011) was a female professional
field hockey
Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...
player from New Zealand. She died in one of the office buildings that collapsed in the February
2011 Christchurch earthquake
A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...
at age 30.
Amanda Christie was born in
Southland Southland may refer to:
Places Canada
* Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia
New Zealand
* Southland Region, a region of New Zealand
* Southland County, a former New Zealand county
* Southland District, part of the wider Southland Reg ...
in 1980 and grew up in
Waikaia
Waikaia, formerly known as Switzers, is a town in the Southland region of New Zealand's South Island. From 1909 until 1959, it was the terminus of the Waikaia Branch railway. The population in the 2013 census was 99, unchanged from the previo ...
on her family's farm. She was head girl at
Gore High School
Gore High School is one of two secondary schools in Gore, New Zealand, the other being St Peter's College, Gore. It is located on Coutts Road in the west of Gore.
Notable staff
*Johnny Borland – high jumper, athletics official
*George Jobbern ...
in 1998; her motivation for success stemmed from her father's death four years earlier.
She was married to
Richard Hooper and had two girls with him
who at the time of her death were two and four years old.
She was a member of the national women's squad ''
The Black Sticks'' from 2001 to 2003, with a total of 40 caps. In 2003, she was nominated for World Junior Player of the Year. She participated in the
2002 Commonwealth Games
The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...
in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, England, where the New Zealand women came
fourth. She competed in the
2002 Women's Hockey World Cup
The 2002 Women's Hockey World Cup was the 10th edition of the Women's Hockey World Cup field hockey tournament. It was held from 24 November to 8 December 2002 in Perth, Western Australia.
Argentina won the tournament for the first time after d ...
where New Zealand came eleventh.
Locally, she played 55 games for
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour.
...
, and was a member of Carlton
Redcliffs
Redcliffs is an outer coastal suburb of Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand.
History
The area of Redcliffs was first populated by humans about 700 years ago. In the 14th century, large groups of Māori, initially the Waitaha people and th ...
.
Hooper lived in
Rolleston Rolleston may refer to:
Places
* Rolleston, Queensland, Australia
* Rolleston, Leicestershire, England
* Rolleston, Nottinghamshire, England
** Rolleston railway station
* Rolleston on Dove, Staffordshire, England
** Rolleston Hall
* Rolleston, Ne ...
and worked for Marac Finance as an account manager.
Her company was based at the
PGC building in the
Christchurch Central City
Christchurch Central City or Christchurch City Centre is the geographical centre and the heart of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is defined as the area within the Four Avenues (Bealey Avenue, Fitzgerald Avenue, Moorhouse Avenue and Deans Avenue ...
that collapsed in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
On 11 March 2011, Christchurch police confirmed that Hooper was one of the victims of the earthquake.
Ian Rutledge
Ian Gregory Rutledge (born 24 June 1972 in Cudal, New South Wales) is a field hockey
Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive ...
, her coach for two years, described her as having a "warm and caring nature" and "one of the hardest-training athletes he had come across in his coaching career".
Her former team, Carlton Redcliffs, awards the Amanda Hooper Award and has retired her number from their women's team in her memory.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Amanda
1980 births
2011 deaths
New Zealand female field hockey players
Field hockey players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
People from North Canterbury
People from Waikaia
Deaths in earthquakes
People associated with the 2011 Christchurch earthquake
Natural disaster deaths in New Zealand
People educated at Gore High School
Commonwealth Games competitors for New Zealand
Sportspeople from Canterbury, New Zealand
20th-century New Zealand women
21st-century New Zealand women