Following their recent silver medal at the Samsung Hockey Champions Trophy tournament in Sydney, the Hockeyroos have turned their attention to the qualifying for next year’s BDO World Cup.
Hockeyroos coach Frank Murray has announced his squad to compete against New Zealand and Samoa in a World Cup Qualifier event in Invercargill, New Zealand from 24-29 August.
A travelling squad of 19 athletes has been selected, with the final team of 18 players to be announced on 24 August. This decision has been made to ascertain the impact that the Women’s BDO Junior World Cup campaign has on players Casey Eastham, Emily Hurtz and Georgia Nanscawen who are currently competing at this tournament.
The travelling squad is extremely similar to the squad that competed at the Samsung Hockey Champions Trophy in July, with defender Heather Langham the only omission.
Veteran defender Kim Walker, who missed the Champions Trophy due to injury, returns to the Hockeyroos team while Victorian striker Claire Messent has also been named in the travelling squad.
Should the Hockeyroos be victorious at the World Cup Qualifier event, in which the Kookaburras will also be competing against New Zealand and Samoa at the same time, they will advance directly to the 2010 Women’s BDO World Cup in Argentina from 30 August – 12 September.
The Hockeyroos squad remains quite young, with nine of the 19 players having only played 20 or less international matches.
Team Australia: Nicole Arrold, Madonna Blyth, Fiona Boyce, Alison Bruce, Casey Eastham, Toni Cronk, Kate Hollywood, Emily Hurtz, Fiona Johnson, Stacia Joseph, Rachael Lynch, Claire Messent, Hope Munro, Georgia Nanscawen, Ashleigh Nelson, Sarah O’Connor, Airlie Ogilvie, Megan Rivers, Kim Walker.
Source: Hockey Australia
