18 of Australia's most talented young hockey players have today been selected to compete at the 2009 Junior World Cup in Singapore & Malaysia from 7-21 June.
Their selection comes after an intense training camp in Darwin in which 27 players were identified and put through a variety of training programs.
With humid conditions expected at the Junior World Cup, the Darwin training camp was designed to help the players acclimatize to the difficult conditions expected at the tournament.
The decision to hold the training camp in Darwin mirrors the Kookaburras movements of acclimatizing to the humid conditions ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics when the team competed in a 4 nations tournament three months prior to Beijing.
The selected 18 players will now travel to Perth for a three week preparation camp from 11-31 May before departing for Singapore on 1 June.
In addition to the 18 selected players, two reserves (Peter Dillion and Travis Taylor) have been selected and will prepare as part of the squad in Perth and travel to the Junior World Cup with the team.
Men's Junior Coach Jason Duff says the training camp in Darwin was invaluable in making the final decision on the squad make up.
ÔÇ£We have obviously kept an eye on this squad of players for some time, but to have them all in the one place at the one time allowed us to gain an ever further insight into each player. With many players having competed at the Junior World Cup Qualifier late last year and the Australian Olympic Youth Festival in January, we have exposed the players to a high quality of opposition which has formed a good preparation base for the team,ÔÇØ said Duff.
Australia 2009 Junior World Cup Team: Leon Hayward, Adrian Lockley, Malcolm Kemp, Aaron Kleinschmidt, Josh Pollard, Chris Bausor, Matthew Boyce, Michael Bates, Tim Bates, Matthew Swann, Kris Glass, Matt Gohdes, Jacob Whetton, Josh White, Tristan White, David Collins, Kieran Govers, Scott Garner.
Reserves: Peter Dillon, Travis Taylor.
Source: Hockey Australia
