Brisbane 2032 Olympics: Future hockey prospects identified for home Games

Fifteen Queensland teenagers have been named in the boys and girls squads, with more juniors from the under age groups to be added to the squad as the decade progresses.

But these 15 are the ants pants at the moment, seen as players who we could all be watching at the Brisbane Olympics.

The Queenslanders named in the Men’s and Women’s Australian Futures (under 18) squads are:

GIRLS

Tammin Andrews

Keebra Park SHS student and Burleigh junior was a 2022 goal scoring hero when she helped the Gold Coast secure the girls title at the under 18 state championships last year. She is a past Player of the Division 1 finals award winner and a 2022 School Sport Australia 16 and Under side.

Meka Crick

A Granville Hockey Club junior from Maryborough State High School, Crick had a wonder 2022 which included making the Australian 16yrs and under team, as well as the Queensland No.1 under 18 side in both 2022 and 2023. She was also selected as a shadow player for the Queensland under 21s.

Chloe Daly

Daly is both an indoor and outdoor goalkeeping young gun who is a part of the Australian Women’s Futures under 18 squad. Originally from the Sunshine Coast where she was once named the Sunshine Coast Hockey Associations Junior Female player (2017), Daly is now a BWHA young gun entrenched at Kedron Wavell.

Georgia Harris

The Ascot Arana Panthers junior was both a School Sport Australia 16 and a member of the giant-killing Queensland No.2 under 18 representative side last year. She has been a state representative since being a young junior and keeps meeting challenges as the years roll by.

Nina Murphy

From the Casuarina Hockey Club on the Tweed Coast, Murphy was both a Queensland under 18s representative and School Sport Australia 16 and Under selection last year and recognition again in 2023 shows he is on track.

Lily Richardson

An Easts junior from Moreton Bay College, she stamped herself as a serious player of the future when named Hockey Player of the Tournament at the under 15 nationals.

Jamie-Lee Surha

The sister of Queensland under 21 representative Brinna, Mackay North SHS’s Jamie-Lee Surha made the 2022 Australian Women’s Emerging Indoor Squad after helping the Queensland No.2 side to its upset win over Queensland No.1 at the national under 18 championships when she was a constant goal scoring threat.

Demi Walker

When your cousin (Kirtsen Dwyer) is a former Hockeyroo, and your older sister (Keeley) an former All Australian Schoolgirls representative and current Brisbane Blaze player, the chances are you will be a hockey player as well. And so Demi Walker is a high class Queensland rookie.

BOYS

Tom Campbell

Mount Rascal’s Tom Campbell is a young gun when it comes to Queensland representatives and is now one of our finest under 18 players. Amazingly he made the Queensland under 21 side – at the ripe old age of 16. He is a Year 12 student at Centenary Heights State High School.

Oliver Harding

An indoor and outdoor representative, the Toowoomba Grammar School product helped the Maroons win an extraordinary bronze medal decider at last years national championship. From the Red Lions Club, announced himself as a player of the future when, in 2018, he helped the Queensland hockey side claim a bronze medal at the Pacific School Games.

William Powell

Powell has been a state player since the under 13s who has risen to dizzy heights, now finding himself as a second years member of the Australian Futures Under 18 squads.

William Ready

From Warwick, he has been a schoolboy young gun who first hit the highlights reel as vice-captain of the Queensland side which competed at the Pacific Games six years ago. A Warwick SHS product, he also made the Under 18 Australian Futures squad.

Daykin Stanger

Stanger comes under the Gold Coast banner but is actually a Northern Rivers talent. He firstly made representative under 12 teams as a student at Southern Cross Primary School and attended Ballina Coast High School. He is a Ballina Hockey Club junior.

Quintyn Laskey-Vella

Laskey-Vella burst into the Queensland under 18s in 2022 after an outstanding state championship when his goal keeping deeds helped the Gold Coast secure the 2022 title.

Matthew Hawthorne

A young veteran when it comes to wearing a Queensland jersey, Hawthorne is a 2022 School Sport Australia 16 Years and Under side selection and has long been identified as a leading junior.

Queensland Maroon’s dominance in the women’s competition at the Australian U18 Championships, which saw them win every game and concede two goals for the tournament, was reflected with seven players named in the squad.

Tammin Andrews, who played for Queensland Gold, was the other Queenslander selected.

Player of the Tournament Camryn Mathison, fellow Queenslanders Karissa Van der Wath and Mihaylia Howell, and Western Australian Jessica Freedman were not named as they are part of the Australian Women’s Junior (Under 21) Squad.

Speaking about the standard of the group, Kookaburras great Mark Knowles said: “This group will play a key role in our 2025 Junior World Cup preparation and also our forward thinking as we seek long term success at the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032.’’

Originally published as Brisbane 2032 Olympics: Future hockey prospects identified for home Games