Four South West hockey players have stepped up and seized the opportunity to represent their state at this year’s Australian Hockey League championships.
Former Boyanup hockey players Jake Harvie, Marshall Roberts and Coby Green were selected for the WA Thundersticks side.
Meanwhile, Candyce Peacock was selected to play for the WA Diamonds squad.
The Thundersticks and Diamonds took on the other states and territories at Perth Hockey Stadium in this year’s tournament.
Both sides secured fifth place in their competitions. The Thundersticks took down Tasmania 2-1 while the Diamonds eclipsed South Australia 4-1 in their final games.
Harvie said it was a dream come true to step up to the next level.
“It’s a special team and the way they’ve always gone about their hockey is something I’ve always wanted to be part of,” he said.
“Regardless of whether they win, lose and draw they do it pretty graciously and work hard. Other sides have some star-studded teams but the Thundersticks have a great culture and always seem to work their hardest and come out on top.”
The 19-year-old from Ferguson Valley stated he was excited to play having missed last year’s tournament due to injury.
“I was really excited for the first game, we have quite a young team so it was a different feel to what it was two years ago when we had a lot of older guys but our Coach Chris [O’Reilly] told us to try our best and have a crack and we’ve done that,” he said.
“We’ve put out some pretty good performances but we’re definitely still improving and trying to work on a few things.
“We had a really good first game as far as they go but we let ourselves down on a few things against India.
“We’ve been playing some reasonable hockey in patches so we just need to string it together for the full 60 minutes.”
