Flynn Steindl, Nicholas Searle make Qld U15s hockey squad ahead of national championships

Flynn Steindl did not enjoy the way he found out making Queensland’s U15s squad, but now he is in the hockey sensation is excited to play with his Mackay mate.

A shift in focus from cricket to hockey has launched a Mackay junior athlete on the path to greatness.

Norths Hockey Club goalkeeper Nicholas Searle was one of six Mackay players selected for the Queensland under-15s state squad, with Georgia Rye, Ebony Temple, Laura Camilleri, Flynn Steindl and Isabel Miles also selected.

Searle, who had made the Queensland U13s indoor team in 2019, said he was excited to have a chance to improve his junior career in the outdoor squad.

“I’ve made Capricornia in my junior years before making the indoor team for U13s, which was all pretty exciting,” he said.

“I’m working on my strengths to make them elite, as well as parts of my keeping that I want to keep building on and improving.

“I would love hockey to be a career path for me, but for now I’m not looking long-term to play professionally, I’m focusing on a couple of goals to improve my game instead.”

The selected squad will travel to Brisbane in February, where a training camp will determine team selection for the national championships in April, 2022.

Searle is hoping his U13s indoor teammate Steindl makes the squad alongside him.

Steindl, who plays for Brothers, said the selection announcement into the Queensland squad initially disappointed him.

“I was in the car with my family, driving to Cairns when I checked the squad and I wasn’t in it,” he said.

“They had made a mistake and gotten numbers five and six wrong.

“About an hour later dad told me they had made the mistake and fixed it, I was disappointed not to make it, but to get named like that was very interesting.

“I’m just happy I’m in the squad now.”