Author: Mitch Wynd

Hockeyroos Head Coach Paul Gaudoin has named his 16-players for the official Tokyo Olympics Test Event to be held in the Japanese capital from 17-21 August 2019.

The event is seen as valuable preparation for the upcoming Oceania Cup in Rockhampton, a best of three match series against New Zealand which doubles as the qualifiers for next year’s Olympics.

While the majority of the team Gaudoin selected have been familiar faces in the Hockeyroos setup this year, there are two players from outside of the squad’s base in Perth, with 17 year old Victorian Institute of Sport product Amy Lawton and Newcastle defender Kate Jenner, who trains at the NSW Institute of Sport, receiving call ups.

“We have full faith in our development squad players to come in and perform a role and push for a spot in the Olympic qualifiers in Rockhampton in September,” said Gaudoin.

Highly regarded with huge potential, Lawton returns to the Hockeyroos fold after making her debut and solitary international appearance in a 2019 FIH Pro League match against New Zealand in April.

“We’ve been aware of Amy for quite some time,” said Gaudoin.

“She performed really well in her one match with the Hockeyroos and was one of the standouts at the National U21 Championships recently so we’ve seen good progression from her and she deserves her opportunity.”

Gaudoin echoed similar sentiments about Jenner. Having taken time away from the game, the 29 year old is back in the Hockeyroos mix after an impressive 12 months.

“Kate played for Australia at the Olympics in London in 2012 and prior to this year, played her last match with the Hockeyroos in September 2015. After taking a sabbatical she came back and played in the 2018 AHL and performed really well,” said Gaudoin.

“She also went with the Hockeyroos squad to the USA and Argentina in the 2019 FIH Pro League this year, so she has a fair bit of experience and is a strong and smart defender.”

Gaudoin is buoyed by the current depth of talent, and reinforced that he is not closing the door on the players who missed out on selection.

“It is still wide open. By picking someone as young as Amy (Lawton) and an older more experienced player like Kate (Jenner) we’re showing our hand that no one is out of the race and that’s a good thing for women’s hockey in Australia,” said Gaudoin.

“As long as they’re willing to work, do the hard yards and put the team first, then they’ll have the opportunity to compete.”

“The upcoming Hockey One League will also form an important part for selection for the Olympic squad selected at the end of the year, but prior to that we need to make sure we qualify first.”

For the Olympic Test Event, the world number two ranked Hockeyroos will fly out for Tokyo on 13 August to face China (ranked 11), India (ranked 10) and hosts Japan (ranked 14).

The matches will be the first played since the completion of the 2020 Olympic hockey venue.

“This event gives us a chance to get a gauge on what it will be like at the Olympics in the hot and humid environment over there,” said Gaudoin.

“It also allows us to work on some of our combinations in the lead up to the Oceania Cup and experience a little bit of what we hope to expect at this time next year.”

“But primarily, it’s an opportunity to fine tune our team ahead of the Olympic qualifiers against New Zealand in Rockhampton next month.”

The Test Event, which is part of the READY STEADY TOKYO seriesand is a dress rehearsal to ensure a successful operation during the Olympic Games, is organised bythe Tokyo Organising Committee in conjunction with FIH.

Hockeyroos squad –Tokyo Test Event 2019

Name	Date of Birth	State	Caps (Goals)
Kristina BATES	09/01/1996	VIC	41 (2)
Edwina BONE	29/04/1988	ACT	188 (4)
Emily CHALKER	28/07/1992	NSW	230 (80)
Kalindi COMMERFORD	18/11/1994	NSW	36 (5)
Savannah FITZPATRICK	04/02/1995	QLD	53 (12)
Kate JENNER	05/05/1990	NSW	118 (1)
Amy LAWTON	19/01/2002	VIC	1 (0)
Rachael LYNCH (gk)	02/07/1986	VIC	211 (0)
Ambrosia MALONE	08/01/1998	QLD	39 (9)
Georgina MORGAN	15/05/1993	NSW	86 (18)
Kaitlin NOBBS	24/09/1997	NSW	67 (3)
Brooke PERIS	16/01/1993	NT	158 (25)
Grace STEWART	28/04/1997	NSW	75 (21)
Renee TAYLOR	28/09/1996	QLD	68 (6)
Sophie TAYLOR	12/09/1995	VIC	22 (1)
Georgia WILSON	20/05/1996	WA	27 (0)

‘READY STEADY TOKYO - Hockey’ (Tokyo Olympics Test Event)

17-21 August 2019

Oi Hockey Stadium, Tokyo, Japan

Hockeyroos Matches

Saturday 17 August 2019

Hockeyroos v China (12:15pm local, 1:15pm AEST)

Sunday 18 August 2019

India v Hockeyroos (9:30am local, 10:30am AEST)

Tuesday 20 August 2019

Hockeyroos v Japan (5:30pm local, 6:30pm AEST)

Wednesday 21 August 2019

3rdv 4th(5:30pm local, 6:30pm AEST)

Final (7:45pm local, 8:45pm AEST)