Lachlan Sharp

Hailing from Lithgow in NSW, Lachlan Sharp grew up playing hockey at his local club. When he was 13 years old, he joined the Ryde hockey club and made the commute three times a week to attend training with his dad.

In 2016, Lachlan was selected to play in the U21 team 'The Burras" and competed at the Hockey Junior World Cup in India, where the Australian team finished in fourth place. 

A year later, Lachlan made his senior international debut with the Kookaburras at the World League Final and brought home a gold medal. 

Shortly after, the attacker scored the winning goal in the final of the 2018 Azlan Shah Cup helping the team achieve another gold medal finish. 

In 2018 aged 24, he made first Commonwealth Games team claiming yet another gold medal on home soil, and later that year won the 2018 Champions Trophy in The Netherlands. 

Lachlan's streak of success continued into 2019 with the Kookaburras winning the FIH Pro League and then with the NSW Pride as they claimed victory in the Hockey One tournament. 

Lachlan made his Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 as part of the Australian team that travelled to the games. Sharp would score his debut Olympic goal in the Kookaburra’s group stage tie and later find his second in their semi-final tie against Germany, where they won 3-1. Despite falling short to Belgium in the Gold Medal final, Lachlan would receive his first Olympic medal (Silver) in his debut at the games, a commendable achievement.

In the wake of the Tokyo Olympics, Lachlan was in the Netherlands playing domestic hockey when he was involved in a serious cycling accident that left him with a concussion.

The concussion led to continuing symptoms, seriously disrupting Lachlan’s international career.

“What I’ve learned is to know the importance of a concussion,” Lachlan said.

“There’s more and more information coming out, but I was so unaware. I didn’t know how serious it was; how to look after it; how to manage it, or how to return to training and play.

“I’ve had ‘hammy ‘niggles, and you think to yourself, ‘I can push through it without having so much of a break’. I tried that approach when I first had my concussion ... I was having slight headaches ... so I kept pushing through them until they disappeared.

“However, they gradually became worse and worse. It’s been a challenge.”

After a series of setbacks, Lachlan sought help from Melbourne chiropractor Brett Jarosz, who has worked with several AFL players.

“He’s changed my life for the better,” Lachlan said. “He nailed down the exercises I needed to do to improve.”

Lachlan, who plays for NSW Pride in the Hockey One League, was back in the Kookaburras side for the FIH Pro League, scoring in a match against the Netherlands.

He said he has many reasons for wanting to be at peak fitness and to be part of Australia’s assault on the Paris Olympics.

“It’s for the love of the game,” he said. “Wanting to go into battle with my mates and wanting to do it for each other and win that gold medal.”

Away from the hockey field, Lachlan, who worked in the Lithgow coal mines before relocating to Perth as a full-time member of the Kookaburras squad, is now completing a bachelor of commerce, accounting and taxation at Curtin University and working as a business analyst.