WA Four Selected in Burras Squad for Madrid 8 Nations

Four WA hockey athletes will don the green and gold for the Australian U21 team at this year’s eight nations tournament in Madrid.

The invitation tournament will split the eight nations into two groups of four, with Australia scheduled to face hosts Spain along with the Netherlands and India.

Four members of Chris O’Reilly’s WAIS men’s hockey program have earned selection with Dane Gavranich, Brayden King, Alistair Murray and Christian Starkie forming part of the 18-strong squad.

King was a member of the Australian U21 side that played at last year’s Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia, whilst at the same time, Murray and Starkie were representing Australia in the hockey 5’s at the Youth Olympic Games in Argentina.

Gavranich, a 19 year-old Currambine resident will feature in a first U21 Australian representative team in a strong show of faith for his pathway progress since first taking up a WAIS scholarship in 2018.

Ben Bishop will lead the Burras tour as Head Coach, supported by Brett Livermore (assistant coach), Andrew Smith (team manager), Dan Mirecki (physiotherapist) and Mitch Pemberton (strength and conditioning coach).

“We are very excited to be able to participate in this fantastic touring and competition opportunity,” Bishop said.

“Our athletes will be able to compete against some of the best junior teams in the world in Madrid while also having the opportunity to play against the European style of hockey which will form an important part of their development.

“We are grateful to the Commonwealth Games Association for their support in allowing this tour to happen.”

The team will depart Australia on Tuesday 4 June and have three days of preparation prior to commencing tournament play on Monday 10 June.