Mickey Sutherland

Story

Mickey Sutherland was born in Boston USA in 1957. His parents Farrell & Pauline were Canadian and moved to Massachusetts for work. His dad was a baseball fan, and named his first child after the New York Yankee legend Mickey Mantle.

The family moved back to Mulgrave Nova Scoria in 1961 and opened up a meat and grocery market supplying ships in the small port. Three brothers (Dale, Barry, and Stephen) followed, and like most boys of the area, all played ice hockey.

An aspiring goal keeper, Mickey dreamed of playing professional, however that never eventuated, and in 1978 he attended St. Thomas University in New Brunswick where he played for the varsity team.

In 1980, Mickey watched a story on Australian ice hockey on Hockey Night in Canada, and then contacted officials in Sydney to enquire about playing in their national league.

The fantasy of playing hockey in the land of boomerangs and kangaroos took the first step to becoming a reality in January 1981 when Mickey set off from Halifax for a 42-hour trip to Sydney.

In Vancouver, Canada Customs discovered Mickey did not have an entry visa to Australia and they would not permit him to board the plane. Mickey produced a letter from the Australian Ice Hockey Federation, which read that his visa would be finalized upon arrival in Sydney. Reluctantly customs officials permitted Mickey to board, on the knowledge that it would be at his expense if he were denied entry in Sydney.

Upon arrival at the Sydney Airport, entry did not look promising. Australian Customs were bewildered as to why Canadian customs had allowed Mickey to leave Vancouver without an entry visa to Australia. Luckily the ice hockey secretary was at the airport to meet Mickey. He was a smooth talker, and after about an hour of consultation with immigration officials Mickey was granted a one-week visa, which was eventually upgraded to a two-year sports visa.

Following three weeks holiday in Sydney, Mickey landed in Adelaide, where he enjoyed a great season playing for the Adelaide Flyers in a new modern ice-skating rink. He played with fellow Canucks, as well as guys from Finland, Germany, Sweden and local Aussies. Adelaide finished in the top four and Mickey was voted Most Valuable Player.

The first year in Adelaide he met his first wife Giovanna, herself an immigrant from Italy. They were married in 1982 and moved back to Nova Scotia for six years. A son, Lane, and daughter Kaylyn were born In Canada. The young family migrated back to South Australia in 1987, however the marriage ended shortly afterwards. Despite his marriage breakup and then the tragic loss of his mom in a car accident back in Canada, Mickey stayed in Adelaide to be near his two kids. He worked a number of jobs, including broadcasting national league baseball and basketball, and writing newspaper reports on American sports. He also dabbled in the collectors card industry staging popular swap meets in Adelaide and Melbourne in the early 90\’s.

In the mid 1990\’s while working for the South Australian Baseball League, Mickey met Diem Chau, a beautiful young refugee migrant from Vietnam. They initially overcame some early cultural obstacles, and they have been together ever since.

Several years ago they purchased a home, and they have two beautiful children Lilian, and Alec, both of whom speak fluent Vietnamese. His two oldest, Lane is a thriving concrete contractor in Adelaide, while Kaylyn is currently working in tourism in British Columbia, Canada

Diem\’s family had a very tough migration to Australia and Mickey has come to respect her family for their resilience in adjusting to a new way of life here in Australia.

In the late 1990\’s Mickey and Diem operated a sporting goods store in conjunction with the introduction of inline hockey to South Australia. In recent years Mickey has worked in the hospitality industry as a hotel night auditor.

Mickey has always been fond of the Australian way of life with its easygoing attitude, and bright future. He doesn\’t miss the Canadian snow, especially shoveling driveways. He does however miss his family overseas, and in the early days of his settlement here was lost without regular coverage of American baseball, ice hockey, and other news events from Canada.

‘Back in the 80\’s I ran up some very big phone bills, but today the internet has changed all that,’ he says. ‘Now I watch my baseball every day, and I\’m up on all the gossip through the local papers from back home. It\’s made living here much more complete.’

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