Jayde Taylor

A former member of the Australian Women’s Hockey team, I made my debut in 2010 & participated at the 2012 London Olympics, Champions Trophy, World Cups (2010 & 2014 Silver) and the 2010 & 2014 Commonwealth Games winning Gold at both. A WAIS scholarship holder & member of the WA Diamonds (WA senior team) for 13 years, my commitment & desire to achieve is almost habit.

Suffering an injury post Olympics, resulted in spending the 2013 competitive calendar on the sideline, making it back to full training at the beginning of 2014. 16 months out of training & playing hockey without guarantee of a full recovery gave a chance to reflect on successes, appreciate any opportunity past/present & to leave nothing to chance.

The 2014 World Cup was a big comeback tournament, which lead to selection in the Commonwealth Games team for Glasgow, from here I took up a contract with the Hockey Club Bloemendaal, in the famous Hoofdklasse League. I lived, trained & played in Holland until May 2015. The opportunity to experience the Dutch culture & the best domestic league was unforgettable. Ultimately it was my persistent hip injury that confirmed my retirement from the national team.

Since returning to Perth, I have worked in the Events Industry with Bar Pop, bringing together some amazing events to inject life & culture into Perth City. A left hip replacement was finally done in August ’18 & got back into fitness at Anarchy Training Centre where I’m also facilitate classes. Also currently the coach of the premier team at Westside Wolves Hockey club.

Most notably, in November 2017 was the launch of our Sugar Free ice cream company ‘Denada Co’ with close friends Charlotte Haygarth & Sophie Lawrence. The first SUGAR FREE, all natural (diabetic friendly) ice cream on the Australian market. We have been on shelves since March 2018 and are now stocked in around 500 independent stores Australia wide, Coles & Woolworths Supermarkets nationally and we also distribute to the MENA region through various retailers.

Our product portfolio has grown from 4 flavoured ice cream tubs to 15 ice cream SKUs, including 4 choc pop flavours – think a magnum, but sugar free! We have ambitions over the next 12 months to diversify the Denada sugar free brand to a variety of supermarket aisles, as well as getting more product into hands through convenience and export. xx