Andrew Charter

Andrew Charter accidentally fell into the sport of hockey when he filled in for the U13 team his sister was coaching and has been in love with the sport ever since, choosing after only one year in the field to switch to goalie. 

The Canberra local made his international debut in 2010 at the Azlan Shah tournament, and went on to help the Kookaburras win back-to-back Champions Trophies in 2011 and 2012.

Andrew has also secured three Commonwealth Games gold medals (Glasgow 2014, Gold Coast 2018, Birmingham 2022), a World Cup title and two Oceania titles during his career.

The 29-year-old helped the men’s side secure two gold medals at the World League semi-final and World League final in 2015, before celebrating 100 international caps in 2016.

Off the field, Andrew has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and designed his own unique goalkeeping helmet, which he debuted at the 2014 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.

The helmet is a bold standout with the ARCAN (Australian Rare Chromosome Awareness Network) logo adorning the back plate to help raise awareness for the organisation, of which ex-kookaburra and assistant coach Nathan Eglington is a committee member.

Andrew made his Olympic debut in Rio 2016 and became a two-time Olympian in Tokyo 2020. In Rio they bowed out in the quarter-finals but in Tokyo the Kookaburras were undefeated right up until the gold medal match, missing out on the gold medal to Belgium in a penalty shootout.

Andrew was instrumental to their achievement of Olympic silver, particularly in blocking all three of the Dutch penalty takers in their quarter-final 2-2 (3-0) win. Following the Games he was elected to the Australian Olympic Committee's Athletes' Commission.

Playing for Canberra Chill, Andrew was named the most valuable player for the 2022 Hockey One League season.

That year, he played a key role as the Kookaburras won gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, thrashing India 7-0 in the final.

It was an emphatic statement from a Kookaburras team that is near unstoppable when at the peak of their powers. The result continued the Kookaburras’ remarkable record of winning every Commonwealth Games gold medal since men’s hockey was introduced to the Games in 1998.

At the 2023 World Cup, Andrew was among Australia’s stars, judged man of the match in a 4-3 come-from-behind win over Spain, saving a late penalty stroke and making a number of key saves. The Kookaburras ultimately lost 3-1 to the Netherlands in the bronze medal match.

Although he was plagued by injury late in 2023, Andrew is fit and back in the Kookaburras squad for 2024.

At the Paris 2024 Olympics Andrew and the Kookaburras defeated Argentina (1-0), Ireland (2-1) and New Zealand (5-0) in the group stage, which included losses to India (3-2) and Belgium (6-2).

Through to the quarter-finals, that's where their campaign would end with a 2-0 loss to the eventual Olympic gold medallists, the Netherlands, in Andrew's 250th game for the Kookaburras.

After the Games Andrew was re-elected to the AOC Athletes' Commission and in November 2024 he retired from being an international hockey player.