Busselton getaway a chance for Hockeyroos to reenergise

As COVID continues to impact when or where the Hockeyroos’ next international will come from, the squad is spending a week in the coastal Western Australian town of Busselton.

Interim Hockeyroos Head Coach Katie Allen says it is an opportunity to get away as a group without the outside distractions of work or study and allow the players to reenergise for what is going to be the hardest couple of months of training before Olympic selection.

“It’s a good opportunity to get away from the daily training environment and go somewhere different to freshen up and regroup,” said Allen.

“It has been a difficult couple of weeks and I think it’s a chance to take some time and be together without distraction and work through some things together.

“It allows us to focus on what’s next and where we go from here, both tactically and also on our team connections which we have done a lot of work on in the past six weeks and even before that.”

Heading to a region that has a proud and passionate hockey following, the training camp also allows the Hockeyroos to inspire the next generation.

“There is a really strong hockey community in Busselton,” said Allen.

“They are going to embrace us coming down there and there is going to be a coaching clinic, we have got school kids coming down for sessions and the local community is aware of when we are training so I’m sure we’ll get great support from them.

“This will give all of us some perspective on being role models for the community and how we can be an inspiration to others.

“Because we haven’t been playing internationals, it’s important to have the opportunity to see the impact we can have on the community, so to be able to engage and enjoy that environment is certainly a positive.”