CHENNAI: Having a parent battling cancer is never easy. Kaitlin Nobbs would vouch for that, for she has seen her father and former India senior men's hockey team coach Michael Nobbs battle cancer for the past five years.
"At the moment he is going through treatment which is challenging but he is getting through it and he has the strongest will to live. He is focusing on getting himself better at the moment which is what I would love nothing else for — letting him watch me play hockey.
He really enjoys that and that brings a smile to his face. That's all I can do right now for him," the SG Pipers midfielder told this daily in a virtual interaction, trying to hold back her emotions.
Currently, she is part of the Pipers team in the ongoing Women's Hockey League in Ranchi.
According to a crowdfunding portal, Michael has been battling lung cancer, which has metastasised into his bones. To destroy the cancer cells, a new drug called amivantamab is needed, but it's expensive. The treatment for six months will cost around 66,400 Australian dollars. Kaitlin and her sister Jaimee created a crowdfunding request on August 31, 2025 and received around 75,000 dollars. While they have arranged funds, there is another difficulty that the family faces. "He lives in Sydney now while we are based out of Perth. We need at least five hours to reach there boarding a flight. It has been hard to help from a distance," she explained.
She described Michael as "one of the kindest men you will ever meet." "He believes the best in everyone and he has such a kind nature about him. Fortunately, we have not had too many hockey chats. We have just been chatting as dad and daughter more so than hockey. He is always my biggest support, whether I play well or play badly," she described her father.
Family of Olympians
Michael was part of the 1984 Australian senior men's hockey team which missed out on an Olympic medal. His time as India coach from 2011 to 2013, saw the nation qualify for the 2012 London Olympics after winning the Olympic qualifiers which took place in New Delhi. Kaitlin had fond memories of the occasion as she was in India visiting her father during the qualifiers. "It was probably one of the craziest and biggest matches of hockey I have ever seen when the Indian men qualified for the Olympics," she said.
Her mother Lee Capes, has won gold in women's hockey event at the 1988 Seoul Games. Lee's sister Michelle Hager (1988 Games) and brother-in-law Mark Hager (1996 Atlanta Olympics) had also seen successes in the quadrennial event. "I definitely followed in my parents' footsteps. I grew up with them still playing at a high level. I grew up playing hockey with my cousins and friends at the stadium. When I grew older, I started to realise what mum had achieved in winning a gold medal and all of the fond memories she had made in the process of doing that. Her achievement became my goal," said the 2025 Hockeyroo of the Year awardee.
Kaitlin said that she would like to leave Australian hockey in a better place than it was when she first got into the national team set-up. "I came into the program about 10 years ago and it wasn't in the best place, from a cultural point of view," she said.
'Amazing to work under Gierts,' says Kaitlin
Belgian Sofie Gierts is the coach of SG Pipers. Incidentally, she is the only woman coach in the current edition of the WHIL. Kaitlin said she has enjoyed training under Gierts. "It has been amazing working with Sofie. She has a wealth of knowledge and I didn't realise she's the only female coach in the league. We should have more female coaches. Last year we had Janneke Schopman (of erstwhile Odisha Warriors, where she previously played) who helped us to the gold and I would like to say that Sophie is capable of leading a team to the same success," she explained. One thing that Kaitlin felt that Gierts has done well is to blend all the cultures together.