A handful of gifted hockey players from Bunbury and Boyanup have been given the opportunity to represent Western Australia.
International hockey star Jake Harvie was picked for the WA Thundersticks ahead of this year’s Men’s Australian Hockey League tournament.
“It’s going to be challenging but we are definitely looking forward to it all,” Harvie said.
“It’s a massive honour to play for the Thundersticks, it’s a team with a very proud history and hopefully we can add to that.”
It has been a banner year for Harvie, who helped the Kookaburras to gold in the XXI Commonwealth Games in April.
Harvie played again for the Kookaburras in June, with the team claiming the Radobank Hockey Champions Trophy with a shootout victory over India in the final.
“We had some new players, tried some new things, learnt a lot from it and were happy,” he said.
“It made for good progress towards the world cup and the olympics in a couple of years.”
It’s a massive honour to play for the Thundersticks, it’s a team with a very proud history and hopefully we can add to that.
- Jake Harvie
September then saw the 20-year-old and the Kookaburras go up against Argentina, Malaysia, and Japan in the Darwin International Hockey Open.
“We had some challenges but we learnt a lot about us as a team, as well as about Argentina and some of the other countries,” Harvie said.
“We had some tough results and lost 2-1 in the final [against Argentina] but it was a good learning experience for us.”
Joining Harvie in the WA side are fellow Boyanup players Coby Green and Marshall Roberts.
Earlier this year, Green was selected for the National Junior Men’s Squad along with the Burras’ 2018 Sultan of Johor Cup team.
The Burras will take on teams from around the globe during the Cup tournament, held in Malaysia from October 6 to 13.
Bunbury player Candyce Peacock will represent the WA Diamonds during its Women’s National Hockey League campaign.
Both AHL competitions kicked off last weekend, with the Thundersticks notching up a 5-3 win over South Australia in Adelaide.
The SA Suns edged out the WA Diamonds, 3-2.
Round two will see the WA sides take on Victoria in Melbourne on October 13.
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