Hockey Australia announced the 2015 women’s National Senior and National Development Squads on Tuesday as it looks towards the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, and there was great news when Parkes product Mariah Williams was listed in the former.
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Mariah has been lifted from the 2014 National Junior Squad to join a Hockeyroos side which won the 2013 Oceania Cup and claimed silver medals at the 2013 Investec World League, 2014 World Cup and the 2014 Champions Trophy, along with a gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Now she gets a chance to help her side get to the Olympics, which Australia has two chances to qualify for.
Australia must finish in the top three at the International Hockey Federation World League semi-final tournament in Belgium in June or win the Oceania Cup in New Zealand in October.
“Halfway towards the Olympic Games our major focus needs to be on qualifying for Rio and the Games themselves,” Hockeyroos coach Adam Commens said.
Georgina Morgan, Gabrielle Nance, and Amelia Spence join Mariah Williams and Orange’s Edwina Bone in the top squad after being lifted from the 2014 National Junior Squad, while Kathryn Slattery has graduated from the 2014 Development Squad.
Nance, Slattery and Spence were part of the Hockeyroos team which won silver at the Champions Trophy in Argentina in December.
Selection for the 2015 national squads was based on performances at the 2014 Australian Hockey League, the 2014 Champions Trophy, Hockey Australia’s national junior camp on the Gold Coast in December and the national ‘super camp’ held in Perth this month.
Commens said Hockey Australia has one eye on the future, and “the selections reflect that”.
“The players we’ve added to the senior group all performed well in 2014, particularly at the Champions Trophy,” Commens said.
“They all bring unique talents to the Hockeyroos and I can see all five playing a part in our strongest side in 2015.”
The Hockeyroos’ first outing this year will be at the Hawke’s Bay Festival in New Zealand from April 11-19, where the Hockeyroos, ranked No.2 in the world, will take on Argentina, New Zealand, China, USA, Korea, Japan and India.
