Grant's Story
Grant’s Story
Western Australian hockey player Grant Boyce was selected for two Australian Olympic teams. His first selection came for Moscow 1980, but he did not compete after Australian hockey withdrew its teams amid the Olympic boycott. Four years later, Boyce made his Olympic debut at Los Angeles 1984, aged 28.
Australia entered the Los Angeles tournament among the leading medal contenders and completed the preliminary round undefeated. The Australians beat Malaysia 5-0, Spain 3-1, West Germany 3-0, India 4-2 and the United States 2-1 to finish first in their pool. Their medal challenge ended with a 1-0 semi-final loss to Pakistan and a 3-2 defeat by Great Britain in the bronze medal match, leaving Australia fourth.
Boyce remained closely involved in Western Australian high-performance sport after his playing career. He joined the Western Australian Institute of Sport board in 1999 and became chair in 2003. During his leadership, he helped secure government funding for the institute’s High-Performance Service Centre at Mount Claremont and oversaw the project from planning to completion. He stepped down in 2015 after 15 years on the board, including 12 as chair.
In 2018, Boyce received the John Graham Award for his contribution to the development and management of sport and recreation in Western Australia. His niece, Fiona Boyce, continued the family’s Olympic hockey tradition by representing Australia at London 2012.
