HOCKEY: The Hockey5s team started their Youth Olympics Campaign this afternoon taking on Germany in a practice match.

The green and gold dominated from the first minute and controlled the match till the final whistle, defeating Germany 9-1.

Three goals to Mackenzie Warne and a solid performance in goal from Max Hughes have the team quietly confident ahead of the tournament.

Captain of the side, Tim Howard was content with the team’s performance especially after only having one training session in Nanjing.

“We went well. We went into the game with a few things we wanted to achieve right from the start and we didn’t lapse too much. It was positive but we will have to see how we go in the tournament,” the Queenslander said.

Since arriving in Nanjing early Thursday morning, Coach David Guest likes the way the team has come together.

“I’m really happy with the group. They have just taken to one another really quickly and it seems like we have a good culture in the group,” he said.

“To be honest, Champ Camp really brought them together. It’s such a sensational event to have before a Youth Olympic Games.”

The boys will need to rest up over night as they have another practice match against Mexico tomorrow morning.

Nanjing’s weather is a major factor for the squad. Coming from Australia’s winter to China’s humid summer the guys will need to prepare well for their matches.

Howard knows that the conditions will be tough but the more they expose themself the better they’ll acclimatise.

“By tomorrow we should be pretty good. Yesterday we were struggling a fair bit but today’s not too bad,” he said.

The team’s first pool game will be on the Monday 18th against Bangladesh at 16:30 (CST) with the rest of their matches against South Africa, Spain and Canada.

Phillip Brent
Olympics.com.au
@AUSOlympicTeam