Best national Under 18 hockey talent identified

The pick of Australian male and female hockey Under 18 talent who will be at their peak to succeed at the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games have been selected in the 2022 Men’s and Women’s Futures Squads.

Legendary Kookaburras duo Mark Hager and Mark Knowles, who are the Technical Leads for Hockey Australia’s National Athlete Pathway Programs – Women and Men, each announced squads of 38 athletes following the completion of the recent Australian U18 Championships in Cairns.

The Futures Program and Under 18 age group is the first time players are nationally identified.

The significance of those named in the squads is pertinent with the green and gold runway of major sporting events over the next decade, highlighted by the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Victoria and 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

These Futures athletes will be nearing and then in their prime come the 2028 and 2032 Olympic campaigns.

“Selection was really difficult as some players have missed a lot of competition because of COVID,” said Knowles.

“Some states had two teams in both genders so we were looking across both younger and top end aged athletes. In the end we had to look at players who performed well in the tournament.

“We also took information from coaches and managers on how players conduct themselves off the field and looked where there are gaps in our senior programs that may need filling as we work towards the LA Olympics in 2028 and Brisbane 2032.”

Hager and Knowles know the importance of nurturing and developing these potential stars of the future and giving them the best opportunity to succeed to maintain Australia’s standing among the best hockey nations in the world.

“What we shared in the education session we held with players and parents in Cairns is that this age group is absolutely vital for our growth towards LA in 2028 and 2032 in Brisbane,” said Knowles.

“What we know from the data is that the average age of an Olympic medallist in hockey is 26.8 years, so these players are in the age criteria when it comes to medalling in LA and Brisbane.”

In assessing the talent on show, Knowles noticed marked improvement from last year’s national Under 18 Championships in Launceston.

“We saw a lot of potential. Some of the positives were seeing athletes’ ability to play in multiple positions and structures, which was one of my concerns at last year’s U18 championships,” said Knowles.

“This year the tactical knowledge and way the teams played was better…which could be put down to a host of factors.”

For Hager, who started in the role in November last year, it was the first chance to observe the talent across the country in this age group.

“There was some good individual play and talented hockey players,” said Hager.

“I was impressed with teams’ ability to score goals on a consistent basis…but looking at the other side, defensively it probably wasn’t so good, so we have identified some key areas we need to focus on.”

“I go into a tournament thinking if I was picking the squad then what sort of players would I be looking for and from that point of view, looking at the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras, we are trying to replicate what they want.”

“It’s identifying athletes who have the potential to grow over the next two or three years and become quality hockey players.”

The selected athletes will be part of a six-part program that includes individual athlete performance planning, online technical and tactical sessions, dual career, mental health and wellbeing, and a training camp in Canberra in October.

“We feel that over the next 12 months these players will get enough touch points to know how important they are to us without overloading them as we know the majority are in Year 11 ad 12 at school,” said Knowles.

Notably, there were players who competed in the Australian U18 Championships that were not selected in the Futures Squads as they are currently part of the National Junior (Under 21) Squads.  

The players will have one eye on pushing for selection for the Men’s and Women’s Junior Word Cups in December 2023 and the following edition in 2025.

2022 Hockey Australia Women’s Futures (U18) Squad
Name (State/Territory)
Imogen Dorsett (ACT)
Alyssa Smith (gk) (ACT)
Lauren Yee (ACT)
Alana Albertini (NSW)
Emmalee Croker (NSW)
Chloe Holmes (NSW)
Georgie Smithers (NSW)
Elizabeth Yanco (gk) (NSW)
Amy Stripling (NT)
Chloe Daly (gk) (QLD)
Grace Dixon (QLD)
Andie Griffin (QLD)
Mihaylia Howell (QLD)
Madeline Kenny (QLD)
Fiona Laybutt (QLD)
Camryn Mathison (QLD)
Ivy Matthews (gk) (QLD)
Annelyse Tevant (QLD)
Savannah Trapp (QLD)
Karissa Van der Wath (QLD)
Demi Walker (QLD)
Georgina West (QLD)
Eliza White (QLD)
Katie Sharkey (SA)
Taylor Brooks (TAS)
Madison Clark (TAS)
Isabelle Kruimink (TAS)
Emily Rockefeller (TAS)
Charlotte Hodgson (VIC)
Samantha Love (VIC)
Aurieliene Pywell (gk) (VIC)
Matilda Banfield (WA)
Maddison Fenwick (WA)
Jessica Freedman (WA)
Summer Greenway (gk) (WA)
Elyssa Melville (WA)
Saysha Pillay (WA)
Caitlyn Templeman (WA)

2022 Hockey Australia Men’s Futures (U18) Squad
Name (State/Territory)
Dylan Brick (ACT)
Darcy Macdonald (ACT)
Dylan Downey (NSW)
Lukas Gremm (NSW)
Kian Johnson (NSW)
Jett Leong (NSW)
Tyler Mccann (NSW)
Fletcher Norris (NSW)
Nicholas Reid (gk) (NSW)
Ryan Woolnough (NSW)
Jett Claydon (NT)
Ryley Bobart (QLD)
Daniel Burge (gk) (QLD)
Tom Campbell (QLD)
Noah Fahy (QLD)
Oliver Harding (QLD)
William Powell (QLD)
William Ready (QLD)
Ryan Wilcox (QLD)
Aiden Cameron (SA)
Mason Hill (gk) (SA)
Kyton Rayner (SA)
Hassan Singh (SA)
Ruben Hoey (TAS)
Max Johnstone (TAS)
Magnus Mccausland (gk) (TAS)
Lachlan Rogers (TAS)
Lachlan Paice (VIC)
Oliver Thompson (VIC)
Oliver Will (VIC)
Patrick Andrew (WA)
Jarod Crick (gk) (WA)
Matthew Edwards (gk) (WA)
Jack Faulkner (WA)
Ian Grobbelaar (WA)
Mitchell Hyde (WA)
Charlie McIntyre (WA)
Matthew van Selm (WA)