Country players to bolster Australian Hockey5s program

Following the conclusion of the recent Hockey Australia Country Challenge in Albany, 20 athletes were selected in an extended 2023 Australian Hockey5s Squad.

These athletes will be joined by another 20 athletes who will be selected from the Australian Indoor Hockey Festival in January 2023.

Players who participated in the Country Challenge were provided the opportunity to nominate for selection in the national Hockey5s squad.

Hockey5s is a super-fast, highly skilful, short format of hockey which is designed to be adaptable to multiple surfaces, environments and space. Hockey5s is an invasion game played between two teams with four field players and a goalkeeper.

“This is a unique opportunity for country players, recognising the depth and quality of regional hockey in Australia,” said Hockey Australia Country Chair, Michael Nelson.

“Whilst Hockey5s is not a common format in country hockey, country players represented Hockey Australia at international level in the last Oceania Intercontinental Hockey5s event in Sydney in 2017.”

Once the 20 players from the Indoor Festival are selected in January, the combined 40 athletes in the Australian Hockey5s Squad will assemble for a selection camp at a venue to be confirmed.

A final Hockey5s team will then be narrowed down to compete at the Hockey5s World Cup Qualifier event in 2023.

Hockey Australia Operations Manager, Liam Dixon commended Nelson for supporting and increasing the talent pool of the Hockey5s program.

“Michael has been an integral part of country hockey for a long time and we wouldn’t have been able to formalise a Hockey5s selection at the Country Challenge without his extensive knowledge of the country hockey landscape,” said Dixon.

“We are fortunate to have volunteers like Michael give so much back to our sport.”

All athletes in the Hockey5s National Squad will be expected to attend the Hockey5s selection camp in 2023 leading into the World Cup Qualifier event.