WAIS Hockey Athlete Named on European Tour
Australia’s under 21 men’s hockey team, the Burras, have selected a 20 member team to tour Europe next month as preparations for December’s Junior World Cup get underway in earnest.
Four years ago Australia won the bronze medal with victory over rivals New Zealand and the two week trip will see the Burras go up against the two teams that finished above them on the medal rostrum in 2009, Germany and the Netherlands.
The five match European tour will see Australia play Germany twice in Mulheim, followed by three Tests against the Netherlands’ U21s in Eindhoven.
And with the Burras’ tour overlapping that of their senior counterparts, the Kookaburras, it offers Australia’s aspiring young athletes a rare opportunity to learn from their hockey heroes.
Included in the squad are six members of the Australian side that won gold at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney and Western Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder Matthew Lim.
Speaking of the importance of the tour as a stepping stone to the Junior World Cup later in the year, National Junior Coach Paul Gaudoin said it was a rare opportunity for the squad.
“This is a great opportunity for us to take a team to Europe. It’s been a long time since a junior squad could do that and we’re tremendously grateful to the Australian Commonwealth Games Association, whose support through the Australian Junior Commonwealth Games Squad Program has allowed us to do it,” he said.
“Regular quality competition can be hard to come by for the senior national team never mind the junior group so this trip is invaluable to us as we look towards the Junior World Cup. The big games at major tournaments are likely to feature these teams in the final four and having the chance to play them will greatly develop our collective experience.”
Gaudoin is also delighted that his young charges will have the opportunity to spend time with the Kookaburras squad preparing for the Rabobank World Hockey League. The Burras will spend 36 hours with their compatriots, which Gaudoin believes can only benefit his group.
“It’s great,” he said. “It’ll be an invaluable experience, a good mentoring opportunity. We’ll be sitting in on their team meetings, their pre and post-match briefings, watching them up close and staying in the same hotel. Being around those guys will be inspirational for our group.”
Following the Be The Influence U21 National Championships the Burras came together for a training camp in Canberra. Further camps are planned in Western Australia and Queensland before final selection for the Junior World Cup is made in early October following the Australian Hockey League (AHL). The Junior World Cup will take place in Delhi, India, from 5-16 December.
– Hockey Australia
