BY ALEX TIGANI
It has been 22 years since Australia’s national women’s hockey team last featured on an Olympic podium.
Gold medals at Seoul (1988), Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000) have been followed by fifth and sixth place finishes ever since.
So, as the search continues for the next generation of talents, we opted to add our region’s very own Elizabeth Ray into the discussion.
Affectionately known as Lizzy to all of her Scone Grammar classmates, she has displayed an unmatched love for her sport and that was apparent when she represented the NSW Stars at the under-15 national hockey championships in Newcastle.
She was one of 20 from the tournament to be selected in the Athlete Acceleration Program as a result and has praised her mother Emma since for inspiring her throughout her hockey journey.
“I remember I used to go down with my mum to play hockey and I joined minkey at Scone which teaches little ones to learn how to play,” Ray told The Hunter River Times.
“She played for Scone and then when covid hit we went to Tamworth, I joined the rep teams and basically went to nationals from there.”
Often her family will travel down from Blandford to pick her up from school and then return up the highway to do the long commute back to Tamworth for training.
This can occur anywhere between two to four times per week.
Yet the long hours of travel and training appeared to be worth their weight in gold when looking back on her performance at national level.
On Day 1 she inspired her side to a 4-0 win over Victoria Development before then claiming player of the match honours thanks to her two-goal performance against the ACT (a 6-1 win).
Her line-up showcased dominance with a 7-0 win against Western Australia before settling for a 2-2 draw against Queensland on Day 3.
A 4-1 win against South Australia sealed the side’s spot in the semi-finals however an unexpected 5-2 defeat to Western Australia Gold saw them miss out on the final.
Thankfully, they would do enough to hold off Queensland Gold with a hard fought 1-0 win in the third-place match.
“No doubt, future Hockeyroos and Kookaburras teams will be made up of players from this year’s under-15 carnival and we look forward to seeing them in the upcoming Commonwealth Games,” Craig Phillips AM, CEO of Commonwealth Games Australia, explained.
Ray now has her eyes set on the future under-18 championships and, if successful, will then enter the under-18 AAP program.
As for her advice?
“Just focus on your training, it can lead anywhere I guess,” she concluded.
“I also want to thank my coaches Helen Willis and Greg Doolan and also Cressfield as my sponsor for nationals, I really appreciated their support.”
