Breah Fischer, Josh Perry among North Coast hockey’s future stars
The North Coast’s standout hockey players are auditioning to be Australia's next stars at youth championships in Cairns. SEE THE FULL LIST
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The next Hockeyroo or Kookaburra could be coming from the North Coast.
A group of 21 youngsters from Coffs to Tweed have been picked to represent Queensland and New South Wales in the upcoming U18 Australian Hockey Championships in April.
Cairns will host the tournament involving players in the U15s and U18s age group battling it out in front of Hockey Australia selectors.
The North Coast was most recently represented at senior international level by Cabarita Beach duo Madison and Savannah Fitzpatrick, who featured at last year’s Tokyo Olympic Games.
These 21 future stars will be out to ensure Paris 2024 has more of a North Coast flavour.
Nina Murphy – Queensland
Clubs: Casuarina Hockey Club, Tweed Hockey
The Tweed Coast youngster who originates from Queensland will represent the sunshine state in April’s championships.
She is a regular in the Queensland squad having been called up to the championships in November 2020 and the national primary school tournament in 2018.
Breah Fischer – New South Wales
Clubs: Beaches Hockey Club, Grafton
Breah Fischer is without a doubt a future star.
She represented her state in an international Pacific school hockey tournament five years ago and eyes have been on her progression since.
Josh Perry – NSW
Clubs: Coffs Coast Hockey, Grafton
Josh Perry is used to the big stage.
He joined Fischer at the international Pacific tournament and has been a mainstay in NSW representative teams for about a decade.
The prospective Kookaburra will have a chance at the championships to prove his value at a national level.
Fiona Laybutt – Queensland
Clubs: Tweed Hockey, Kingscliff
Fiona was named one of the top sporting rookies in 2021.
She most recently represented her state with pride at the Junior Nationals in April last year.
Levi Fischer – NSW
Clubs: Hockey Coffs Coast
Levi was a standout member of the Hockey Coffs Coast victory at the U15 state championships in June last year.
His side’s 1-0 win in the grand final earned them the Bruce Barnier trophy, which was named after a Coffs and NSW hockey legend.
Finnigan Robinson and Kalani Franklin – NSW
Clubs: Northern Star, Ballina, Far North Coast Hockey
These two trailblazers will be front and centre of the U15s boys squad at the championships in April.
They have been in championship squads since they were in Year 4.
The Emmanuel Anglican College students now have the chance to show off their skills on the national stage once again.
Alana Albertini – NSW
Clubs: Northern Star, Far North Coast Hockey
Alana Albertini has graduated from the 2019 U15s squad to the U18s NSW Women’s team this year.
She captained the Far North Coast U18 side in a statewide championship in Goonellabah in May 2021.
The three-day tournament was good preparation for the national champs in Cairns as well as giving her the opportunity to have her leadership role in the team.
The NSW team is Eliza Berrick - Grafton, Alice Hughes - Grafton, Molly Williams - Hockey Coffs Coast , Kalani Franklin - Far North Coast, Finnigan Robinson - Far North Coast , Levi Fischer - Hockey Coffs Coast, George Mitchell - Far North Coast, Max Miller - Hockey Coffs Coast
Martina Williams - Grafton, Mackenna Ensby - Grafton, Maya Mcgrath - Far North Coast, Breah Fischer - Grafton, Alana Albertini - Far North Coast, Billy Bradford - Far North Coast, Daykin Stanger - Far North Coast, Josh Perry - Hockey Coffs Coast, Ambrose Page - Hockey Coffs Coast
The QLD TEAM includes Claire Seaton - Tweed, Lucy Fitzpatrick - Tweed, Fiona Laybutt - Tweed and Nina Murphy - Tweed.
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