Parkes has a strong connection in the Australian Under 21 mens hockey squad to compete at the forthcoming Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia in October after the Burras were announced this week.
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Kurt Lovett has been selected in the squad which will be coached by Ben Bishop.
Lovett was selected after an excellent Australian Under 21s championships in Canberra after which he joined a national training squad.
He has since been named in the final squad to go to Singapore and Malaysia.
The Sultan of Johor Cup marks the first tournament opportunity for the Burras in their build-up towards the Junior World Cup qualifying tournament in early 2016.
Australia’s Burras will face Argentina, Great Britain, India, Pakistan and Malaysia in the six team round-robin competition in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, between October 11-18.
After departing on October 4, Australia will play a series of warm-up matches in Singapore prior to arriving in Malaysia on October 9.
The Burras will be led by National Junior Coach Ben Bishop, who previously played hockey in Parkes before he left to pursue his dream of playing in the national side.
Bishop will be at the helm for the Burras throughout their Junior World Cup campaign.
“Following the Under 18 and Under 21 Australian Championships and our national junior camp in Canberra, we were able to obtain a range of quality information on our athletes around the country,” Ben Bishop said.
“The team to compete in Johor was selected with one eye on current performances and the other on starting our journey towards the 2016 Junior World Cup in India.
“We are lucky to have a large pool of athletes to be able to select quality teams from and the players that missed out will almost certainly get an opportunity to play for the Burras over the next 12 months,” he said.
Discussing the development opportunities that this tournament provides younger Australian athletes, Bishop had high praise for the upcoming tournament.
“The Sultan of Johor Cup has become one of the most important international competitions in the world for our junior athletes,” Bishop said.
“It provides an international touring opportunity while also giving them the opportunity to play against international level opposition.
“This year we will be benefiting from playing against Asian, European and South American teams, giving the athletes a fantastic development opportunity,” he said.
