Young Diamonds Set to Shine in 2011

The Australian Hockey League season gets underway next week and a new generation of WAIS athletes are looking to guide the Smokefree WA Diamonds to a record eighth title.

Katy Symons and Courtney Robinson made their WA debuts last season but following several retirements in the off-season, the girls are ready to take the next step.

“They’ve left holes in the team and at 24, I’m a senior player now,” Robinson said.

“Hopefully I can step up and move into these positions.”

Growing up in Lake Grace in the Eastern Wheatbelt of Western Australia, Robinson was introduced to Hockey at an early age.

“In the country you start as soon as you can walk, I was seven when I played my first Minkey game,” she said.

Symons, who turns 19 this year, has grown with the side in her short introduction to the AHL.

“Being introduced to the diamonds setup so young has benefited my hockey so much,” she said.

“Playing alongside Australian players and being opened up to that high level so young has really helped me.”

After being initially named in the Diamonds side in 2007, Robinson travelled abroad to Leicester, England to compete in the Premier League.

“They (Leicester) are probably the best team in England and are now competing for a European title,” she said.

“It’s a different style of hockey and playing with the Leicester and Great Britain girls was great, I learnt so much from them.”

It wasn’t until the 2010 AHL season until both Robinson and Symons became regulars within the Diamonds team, a feat they are looking to improve on this year.

“I’d like to score a few goals in AHL and step up a little bit more than I did in my debut year,” Symons said.

“It’s my second season so I want to be more established within the team, more hockey and to play more confidently is a goal,” Robinson said.

With aspirations to represent Australia, both girls have found role models within the current national side.

“The amazing speed, execution and composure that Casey Eastham has in the centre and the elimination skills that Hope Munro has in reading the play is just something I dream to have,” Symons said.

“Jade Taylor has only just established herself in the national team, she’s a country girl as well, a defender that just works so hard,” Robinson said.

Not only talented athletes, Robinson is in her final year of an accounting degree at Curtin University while Symons is one-year into a Primary Teaching degree at Murdoch University.

“I found that last year it was an eye opener as to how to balance everything, but I learnt pretty well last year and now this season I am juggling study, hockey and my social life pretty well,” Symons said.

The Smokefree WA Diamonds 2011 AHL campaign gets underway on Friday May 6 against Queensland.

– Beau Pearson