THEY'RE the fantastic five of Bathurst's junior hockey ranks and they're ready to bring their best for New South Wales at next month's national championships.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Bathurst's Lily Kable, Millie Fulton, Ellyce Bestwick, Tayla Grabham and Fletcher Norris all progressed from state under 15s and 18s squads into the final teams to go up against Australia's top junior stars.
Kable and Fulton will be in the NSW 18s girls first string team and Norris will join them in Cairns as he lines up in the top NSW 18s boys side.
Bestwick and Grabham venture to Newcastle as part of the NSW 15s girls Lions team.
Norris and his NSW teammates will be on somewhat of a revenge quest at this year's championships.
The Bathurst player is now a top age player in under 18s and has been reunited with most of the team that made a deep run at the under 15s title three years ago.
"I've played with a couple of these guys from last year but when we came second in 15s it's pretty much the same team from there, so we're looking to go one better this time," Norris said.
"That final was against Western Australia. They had a bunch of men in under 15s. They were all huge.
"I know that a couple of them won't be there this time but I still expect it to be a fight between us, them and Victoria this year."
Norris captained the New South Wales side at that 2019 tournament and nearly steered the side to glory.
They went down to WA 2-1 in the gold medal match with a goal going against them two minutes from full-time.
- READ MORE: Black Magic and White Lightning highlight emerging female talent in Central West Premier League Hockey
- READ ALSO: Tyler Willott's late strike gives Central West Premier League All Stars men a 2-0 win over Burwood
- READ ALSO: Dave Marshall backs Premier League Hockey's men's development squad concept
Norris said it's also great to see Bathurst's representation at the national level growing to new heights.
"I remember when it was myself, Millie and Lachlan Howard in these teams for a while so it's great to see the younger ones coming through," he said.
"They were all training at a pretty young age with us and I'd say that made them accustomed to the higher quality games."
Bathurst also has a sixth player listed in their state selections, James Robinson, who is a Dubbo native that played for Bathurst at the State Championships earlier this year.
The representation for the Central West continues with a big group of Parkes selections.
Jack Westcott and Toby Collins were named in the 18s boys Blue side, Ellie Parker and Elly Thornberry in the Under 15s Girls Stars side and Flynn Thompson (Parkes) in 15s Boys Lions.
The under 15s championships at Newcastle run from April 7-13 and the under 18s event at Cairns is taking place from April 6 to 14.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.westernadvocate.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News