Australian midfielder Jane Claxton was voted joint winner of the 2019 Hockeyroos Player of the Year. Clapton has been a member of the senior Australia women’s squad since 2013, after making her debut in London, England at the Hockey World League Semi-Finals. She now has 181 senior international caps and has been an integral part of Australia’s rise up the world rankings to their current position at number three.
Although Australia do not make a return to FIH Hockey Pro League action until April 2021, when they travel to the USA, Jane and her teammates will be watching the action as it unfolds in the northern hemisphere throughout September, October and November.
What are the advantages of being able to watch the opening few games of the FIH Hockey Pro League ahead of Australia's own return to the competition in April?
Jane Claxton: We won’t be starting our 2021 international programme until April, so we will have a really good period of time to watch other teams engage which for obvious reasons will be great for our scouting and will let us know where other teams are at in terms of their performance. From a hockey perspective, we love our scouting so that will really help us adjust our training programme accordingly.
How will the team make sure it is ready for top flight international action in April?
Jane Claxton: Across the next six months, the Hockeyroos have a number of camps and games planned – both international games and inter-squad games to get us prepared to hit the ground running.
With Covid still causing restrictions, can you give a few examples of how the team is ensuring it stays healthy and virus-free while getting back to training and playing?
Jane Claxton: We are really lucky as the Hockeyroos team is located in Perth, Western Australia, which at the moment has created quite a hub within the state where we are free to play club games, friendly games and inter-squad games. Unfortunately, across the country that’s not the same and we have a few girls that are ‘stuck’, for want of a better word, in their own state, training in their own hubs. But hopefully, soon, we will all be in Perth in the central hub and able to play inter-squad games.
Can you describe what it has been like, as an athlete, to not be able to do the very thing that you have trained for so many years for?
Jane Claxton: It has been an incredibly difficult period, coming from the elite athlete environment that I have been in for the past seven years. Coming from a programme of training day-in, day-out to an abbreviated programme where we have had to delay our return to play and not be competitive, which is hard, being such a competitive player myself, but also with girls that are extremely competitive. This past six to eight week period where we have returned to playing within the club and being competitive has been extremely valuable to our group.
How ready is the team for a return to action?
Jane Claxton: The Hockeyroos, to this point, have been really prepared for a return to competitive hockey. Everyone based in Perth has been playing for their various club teams for the past 12 weeks, so we are really prepared. If we had to turn up to play international hockey tomorrow, the Hockeyroos would be well and truly up for it.
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