NHC Life Member - Brian Ivkovic
Club Involvement
NHC committee - 1996 2002
Playing Years (premierships)
A Grade - 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1994 1995
B Grade - 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Coaching (premierships)
A Grade - 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1994 2002 2003
B Grade - 1983 2000 2001 2002 2004 2006 2012 2014 2016
Under 16 - 1996
Minkey Under 9 - 1989
Personal Achievements
NHC Best & Fairest - A Grade - 1981
NHC Best & Fairest - B Grade - 1996 2007 2008
BVHA Best & Fairest - A Grade - 1983
BVHA Best & Fairest - B Grade - 2000
BVHA Best & Fairest Runner Up - B Grade - 1998 2007
BVHA Best on Ground in Grand Final - B Grade - 1999
BVHA Team of the Year Coach - 2003
Senior games as at 30 September 2016 - 435
Awarded Life Membership - 2003
The Brian Ivkovic Story:
Of all the members and players of our great club, no-one has made the impact from day one as Brian Ivkovic.
He played his early hockey with Enfield in the Adelaide Competition, and this developed his awareness of what it took to be a good coach, and a good player.
In 1981 Brian came out to a Nuriootpa training session and we were between coaches, Brian grabbed a keen but ill-disciplined group and moulded them into a quality, quick, skilful, committed, determined and successful squad. Brian demonstrated and demanded excellence at training and gave each player the time to develop the required skills, to be an A-Grade player.
As a player, Brian was fair, aggressive, assertive and extremely skilful. He always led by example and was awarded the BVHA Best & Fairest in 1983 - A premiership year. We told him it was fancy dress - and he arrived dressed as Spiderman! Brian was in charge of 3 senior teams, without a manager or assistant coaches.
Brian was instrumental in developing In-door hockey as a way to fast track the skill development of players.
Brian had a small time away from Nuri either playing for the Barossa team or absent due to business commitments, however he was always coming back to the club, and when he did, he picked up his coaching with our junior program. Many senior players will look back to their time and be thankful that they have had the advantage of Brian’s mentoring.
Brian has also become LEGENDARY for his dress-up antics on Grand-Final day, from Charlie Chaplin to Granny Ivkovic to The Joker.
More recently, Brian has asked the Club to embargo his Sponsorship for the exclusive use within Junior development – across playing, coaching or umpiring. This is the class of Brian, adding back to the NHC Junior program – developing the stars of the future.
For over 30 years, Brian has been a wonderful teammate, competitor, coach, umpire, committee man, sponsor, clubman, and mentor, and at all times a positive and fun force to be around.
Brian’s family has always been the corner stone of who he is as a person, we at NURIOOTPA HOCKEY CLUB are fortunate that Brian has included us in his extended family.
Brian was the first NHC Member to play 300 and then 400 senior games, seems 500 may be in his sights!
The sixth Life Member of Nuriootpa Hockey Club - Brian Ivkovic