WAIS Athletes Selected in National U21Squads
Following the completion of the U21 Women’s and Men’s National Championships, Hockey Australia has announced the U21 squads selected in preparation for the 2013 Women’s and Men’s Junior World Cups.
Three WAIS scholarship holders have earned selection across the two squads, with Kathryn Slattery representing the Jillaroos, whilst Mathew Lim and Daniel Robertson earned call-ups for the Burras.
Showcasing the exceptional talent available to women’s National Junior Coach Craig Victory, seven Hockeyroos have been selected for the U21 women’s squad, the Jillaroos; Jane Claxton, Anna Flanagan, Jordyn Holzberger, Karri McMahon, Georgia Nanscawen, Emily Smith and Jade Warrender have all been part of the senior squad this year. Incredibly, Flanagan, Holzberger, Nanscawen, Smith and Warrender have already amassed 270 international appearances for the Hockeyroos.
Queensland, winners of the Be The Influence U21 Women’s National Championships, is represented by five athletes while eight of the squad hail from New South Wales, runners up to Queensland in Saturday’s thrilling National Championships final.
Of the 25 athletes selected, 14 were members of the squad that won gold at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in January, including top scorer Madison Fitzpatrick, who found the target five times in Sydney.
Announcing his squad, Victory said: “The standard of competition at this year’s Be The Influence National Championships was extremely high. The hotly contested final was very exciting to watch and we saw lots of improvements in the areas we’d hoped to. We’ve undertaken a very thorough selection process in getting to this group of athletes and while I know that lots of good players have missed out it was great to see some very talented 16 and 17 year olds on show as well as those selected for the Junior World Cup squad. It shows us that the future is bright.”
The Jillaroos qualified for the Junior World Cup by winning the Oceania Continental Federation Championship in March where they beat New Zealand in three matches. The Women’s Junior World Cup takes place in Monchengladbach, Germany, from 27 July until 4 August.
Included in the U21 men’s squad, the Burras, are eight of the Queensland team that took the National Championship title at the weekend. Also included are New South Wales’ Blake Govers, brother of Kookaburras Olympic medal winning striker Kieran, and goalkeeper Andrew Butturini, brother of London Olympian Kookaburra Matthew.
Hoping to continue where they left off after January’s Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) are the Burras’ three most potent goal threats from that tournament. Jack Elliot (NSW) found the net seven times in Sydney as Australia took the gold medal while Cameron Joyce (SA) and Will Gilmour (VIC) each netted four. In all, ten members of the AYOF squad have been selected.
As he announced the squad, men’s National Junior Coach Paul Gaudoin said, “Making this decision has been a very difficult process for the selectors and a number of players have been unlucky to miss out. The selection gives us a balanced squad as we look towards the Junior World Cup. The Under 21 National Championships were the final part of the process and the players needed to play well on top of the activity they’ve previously undertaken.”
In March, the Burras secured their place at the Junior World Cup by defeating New Zealand 4-2 in the final of the Oceania Continental Federation Championship. Earlier in the tournament, Australia ran out 28-0 winners over hockey minnows Vanuatu. The Men’s Junior World Cup takes place in Delhi, India, from 6-15 December. The 26-man training squad will be reduced to a final group of 18 athletes following the AHL at the end of September.
Explaining the support that Australia’s young athletes receive, Tricia Heberle, Hockey Australia High Performance Director, said: “Hockey Australia’s high performance priorities remain international success and sustainable international success. With the launch of the new national high performance strategy ‘Australia’s Winning Edge 2012 – 2022’, it is even more imperative that we balance the support and performance of our current national teams with that of investment into the next generation of international representatives .
“While the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras are our flagship teams on a global stage, over the last three years Hockey Australia has invested significantly in establishing a more comprehensive and integrated approach to talent identification. Both junior programs now have full time national junior coaches who lead and provide oversight of junior athlete development, talent identification and the dissemination of national direction to state coaches.
“Athletes are also supported with regular quality training through the State Institute and Academy of Sport National Training Centres and competition activity, including overseas touring and tournament experiences. The partnerships that Hockey Australia has with the SIS/SAS network continue to be invaluable in providing quality coaching and services to our young athletes.
“A key responsibility of the network is to prepare young talent to progress and make the transition to a higher level. Many of the athletes who have been selected in our Junior World Cup squads epitomise the crucial role that network coaches play in driving this objective.”
– Hockey Australia