Confederates skipper Annabelle Tierney’s played hockey her whole life, “since kindy” in her words, but she never thought she’d get an opportunity like the one she’s been given this year.
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The 18-year-old is set to fly out to the US, where she’s accepted a scholarship to don the black and gold of Millersville University.
“I am just so excited,” Tierney said.
“It’s a part sporting, part academic scholarship, the university’s in Pennsylvania. It is only a small scholarship for my first year.
“I’m paying about half, but hopefully if I knuckle down with my academics and play well that might increase.
“I’m nervous too but it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and there’ll be so many new experiences to have. I’m just going to try and grab the opportunity with both hands and see how it goes.”
She linked with a recruiting company while she was still at Kinross two years ago, but wasn’t seriously expecting to be picked up.
“Hockey’s always just been something I loved doing. I started playing when I was five or six, since kindy, and I first played Premier League in 2014 (with Kinross-CYMS) so I just thought I’d give it a go, I never really thought anything would come from it,” she explained.
“But earlier this year Millersville’s coach emailed me and said they were interested, so I applied through the university and got accepted.”
Along with fronting for the Marauders, a side which made the semi-finals in division two of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition last year, Tierney will study marine biology.
“It’s a four-year course. Marine biology’s something I’ve always wanted to do, so I’m going over there to do the two things I love,” she beamed.
“(In terms of hockey) they’ve been going really well in division two, hopefully we can continue that once I’m over there.”
Although she’s not entirely sure what to expect, Tierney is as well prepared as she’ll ever be.
Along with the mountain of work she’s put in behind the scenes, she’s led Confederates to their most successful season since re-entering the women’s Premier League Hockey and made her debut on the national scene this year as well.
“I’ve been doing so much extra training this year, extra fitness and that sort of thing to prepare,” she said.
“Getting to play for Tasmania at [the Hockey Australia Under 18s Indoor Championship] has helped as well, it’s all helped me add new skills to my repertoire and improve a lot.”
Tierney flies out on Sunday week.
“It’s getting close, I should probably start packing,” Tierney laughed.
“I haven’t really done anything to get ready yet, I’m leaving it all to the last minute.”
She celebrates her 19th birthday not long after landing too, before the Marauders’ season starts on September 2 against the Stonehill Seahawks.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
