By CHRIS KARAS

MACKAY squash dynamo Kayce Hoani-Vincent (pictured) is a young athlete on a mission.  

The 15 year old Mercy College student dreams of one day representing her country at a Commonwealth Games  – and if talent and desire is any guide then the super fit schoolgirl is well on track to compete at the 2026 international showcase in Victoria.  

Kayce is the number one ranked female squash junior in Queensland and a promising pole vaulter in field athletics – two sports entrenched on the Commonwealth Games events calendar.  

“Squash and athletics are in my blood,” says the versatile teenager who first picked up a squash racquet at the age of eight.  

“I think it would be the ultimate if I was able to represent Australia in either of those sports at a big meet such as the Commonwealth or Olympic Games.”  

In four years time, the Victorian towns of Bendigo and Ballarat will host the Squash and Athletics events respectively at the 2026 Commonwealth Games – a schedule that inspires young Kayce to chase her dreams.  

Kayce can take a giant step towards realising her sporting goals when she participates at the annual Trans Tasman Schools Squash Tri Series Challenge in Brisbane.  

She will line up for her beloved Queensland against the best junior squash players from New South Wales and New Zealand from August 22 at the Daisy Hill Squash & Racquet Club complex.  

At the end of the Tri Series, Kayce will spearhead an Australian Junior team comprised of Queensland and NSW players when they square off against the Kiwis in a major international challenge on the squash court.  

It has proved an eventful career to date for the schoolgirl sensation, who is a product of Mackay’s Squash 52 club.  

Ever since she began turning up courtside to watch her elder brother Kyle play, the dedicated Hoani-Vincent has shown an affinity for the game.  

By the age of 10 she was competing in State Junior Championships and soon after was winning Northern Region and Queensland State titles before representing the Maroons at national level.  

Kayce has held her number one Queensland ranking since 2019 and puts it down to her arduous training schedule and desire to constantly improve.  

She balances her Year 10 studies at Mercy College with three days of intense fitness training that includes speed, endurance and strength work plus honing her racquet skills on court.  

When Kayce is not devising game tactics or hitting a squash ball, she can be found working on her high jump or the pole vault on the athletics field.  

A talented member of Mackay Athletics Club, Kayce has turned in encouraging performances in field events over the past 12 months.  

Ranked number three in Queensland for her age group, she  finished 8th overall in the Pole Vault at the Australian Junior Athletics Championships at Sydney Olympic Park back in April and demonstrated her ability at the recent Coral Coast Athletics Championships in Cairns.  

Pic caption: Outstanding Mercy College athlete Kayce Hoani-Vincent will represent Queensland in the annual Trans-Tasman Schools Squash Challenge in Brisbane.