HOCKEY: A 23-athlete women’s National Senior Squad and a 16-athlete National Development Squad have been announced, as Hockey Australia looks towards its Olympic qualifying events this year and to Rio 2016.

While Olympic qualification is the primary target in 2015, the squads are representative of an ongoing push to improve the depth of talent in Australia’s women’s hockey program.

Five athletes make the step up to the senior national squad from the 2014 development and junior groups.

Georgina Morgan (NSW), Gabrielle Nance (SA/NSW*), Amelia Spence (TAS) and Mariah Williams (NSW) all step up from the 2014 National Junior Squad while Kathryn Slattery (WA) is included having been a member of the 2014 National Development Squad. Nance, Slattery and Spence were part of the Hockeyroos team that won silver at the Champions Trophy in Argentina in December.

Announcing the squads, Australian women’s National Coach Adam Commens said, “Halfway towards the Olympic Games our major focus needs to be on qualifying for Rio and the Games themselves. But we need to have an eye for the future and the selections reflect that with a number of younger players coming into the centralised program.

“Our national squad is deliberately quite tight with 23 athletes that we feel deserve to be in the top group and who will be afforded the majority of opportunities in 2015, but we have the option to promote players from the development squad at any time during the year.”

Commenting on the five new faces in the National Senior Squad, Commens added, “The players we’ve added to the senior group all performed well in 2014, particularly at the Champions Trophy. They all bring unique talents to the Hockeyroos and I can see all five playing a part in our strongest side in 2015.”

The National Development Squad includes nine athletes that were members of the National Junior Squad in 2014, two who were part of the senior squad and four who are new to the program. The new faces are Stephanie Kershaw (QLD), Savannah Fitzpatrick (QLD), Kate Hanna (NSW) and Renee Taylor (QLD).

Outlining his hopes for the development squad this year, Commens said, “It’s important over the next 12 months that we have meaningful opportunities for the development squad. That means giving them the exposure to our training environment and international competition where we can.”

Four members of the National Development Squad have been awarded scholarships to the centralised training program in Perth, alongside the National Senior Squad. They are Madison Fitzpatrick, Kate Hanna, Stephanie Kershaw and Renee Taylor.

The Hockeyroos have two opportunities to qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games. They must finish in the top three at the FIH World League Semi Final tournament in Antwerp, Belgium, in June or win the Oceania Cup in Stratford, New Zealand, in October.

The team’s first outing this year will be at an eight-nation tournament, the Hawke’s Bay Festival, in New Zealand from 11-19 April. Runners-up last year, Australia’s Hockeyroos (world #2) will be joined in Hawke’s Bay by Argentina (#3), New Zealand (#4), China (#5), USA (#8), Korea (#9), Japan (#10) and India (#13).

Selection for the 2015 national squads was based on performances at the 2014 Australian Hockey League, preparation for the 2014 Champions Trophy and performances at the competition, Hockey Australia’s national junior camp on the Gold Coast in December and the national ‘super camp’ held in Perth this month.

2015 National Senior Squad
Name (Hometown, State)
Teneal Attard (Mackay, QLD)
Madonna Blyth (Brisbane, QLD)
Edwina Bone (Evatt, ACT)
Jane Claxton (Adelaide, SA)
Kirstin Dwyer (Mackay, QLD)
Anna Flanagan (Canberra, ACT)
Kate Jenner (Tamworth, NSW)
Jodie Kenny (Wamuran, QLD)
Rachael Lynch (Melbourne, VIC)
Karri McMahon (Berri, SA)
Georgina Morgan (Armidale, NSW)
Gabrielle Nance* (Kingscliff, NSW)
Georgia Nanscawen (Melbourne, VIC)
Ashleigh Nelson (Wagin, WA)
Georgie Parker (Berri, SA)
Brooke Peris (Darwin, NT)
Casey Sablowski (South Coast, NSW)
Kathryn Slattery (South Stirling, WA)
Emily Smith (Crookwell, NSW)
Amelia Spence (Hobart, TAS)
Ashlee Wells (Morwell, VIC)
Kellie White (Crookwell, NSW)
Mariah Williams (Newcastle, NSW) 2015 National Development Squad
Name (Hometown, State)
Murphy Allendorf (Mount Gravatt, QLD)
Laura Barden (Kew, VIC)
Jocelyn Bartram (Albury, NSW)
Stephanie Kershaw (Townsville, QLD)
Jacqui Day (Mountain Creek, QLD)
Elizabeth Duguid (Darwin, NT)
Madison Fitzpatrick (Cabarita Beach, QLD)
Savannah Fitzpatrick (Cabarita Beach, QLD)
Kyra Flynn (Hillarys, WA)
Kate Hanna (Constitution Hill, NSW)
Jordyn Holzberger (Ipswich, QLD)
Audrey Smith (Wynnum, QLD)
Hayley Padget (Hurstbridge, VIC)
Mathilda Carmichael (Willoughby, NSW)
Penny Squibb (Tambellup, WA)
Renee Taylor (Everton Park, QLD)

*Gabrielle Nance is an athlete at the South Australian Sports Institute but grew up in Kingscliff, NSW.

HOCKEY AUSTRALIA