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Suns star Kim Leiper travelled the world, but now leading young side in Ric Charlesworth Classic

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Mitchell WoodcockThe West Australian
Kim Leiper, left, is hoping to lead the Suns to a win against Breakers on Wednesday.
Camera IconKim Leiper, left, is hoping to lead the Suns to a win against Breakers on Wednesday. Credit: Gary Day

Suns star Kim Leiper has played in competitions all around the world, so it’s a big compliment for hockey in WA when she chose Perth as her home.

The Englishwoman has been a staple of the local leagues since first arriving in 2016 and last year helped the Reds to a title in the premier division two, which earned them promotion.

“I came out to play here in 2016 just for the season as an import because I was in the Great Britain development squad at the time,” she said.

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“I fell in love with travelling with hockey. I played a season in Spain, but got the bug and wanted to come back.

“Because the national team train in WA I thought it would be the best competition in Australia.

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“I came back in 2018, spent time here in winter, met my partner and now here I am.”

While she is preparing for another seasons with Reds, Leiper’s immediate focused is on starring for the Suns in the Ric Charlesworth Classic, which continues on Wednesday at Perth Hockey Stadium.

“It’s such a good way of getting to know people from the hockey circles from your close environment,” she said.

“Particularly this time with more juniors involved, it’s been nice watching the more experienced players helping the younger ones.”

The winless Suns come up against the top-of-the-table Breakers and while the grand final is out of reach, Leiper and her team are taking plenty of positives out of the competition.

“We’re not on track for the final, but our goal coming into the game against the undefeated Breakers is still to win. We know it’s potentially going to be our hardest challenge,” she said.

“If we play in the third versus fourth match, we want to win that as well.

“Even though we’ve lost two matches, we’ve had lots of lessons. And we want to finish the season well.”

Breakers will play the Suns on turf one, while Outbacks play the Highlanders on turf two from 6.30pm.

Then in the men’s Breakers take on the Suns from 8pm on turf one, with Outbacks and Highlanders to do battle at the same time on turf two.

The grand finals will be played on Saturday from 1pm.

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