Cairns teen Liv McArthur chasing hockey goals in the big smoke

Liv McArthur is determined to take the next step towards achieving her dream of playing professional hockey in the big smoke.

Liv McArthur is determined to take the next step towards achieving her dream of playing professional hockey in the big smoke.

The rising Cairns Saints midfielder has moved to Brisbane this year following the completion of her schooling and will undertake a double degree in paramedicine and nursing at university.

She will play club hockey for Ascot Panthers in the Brisbane Women’s Hockey Association Division 1 competition, where she will be coached by three-time Olympian and Sydney 2000 gold medallist Angela Lambert (nee Skirving).

McArthur has also been named in the Queensland under-18s girls’ hockey team that will compete at the Australian U18 National Championships, following an impressive showing at this month’s selection trials.

Cairns Hockey player Liv McArthur has made the Queensland under-18s side and will head to the Australian Under-18s National Championships in April. Picture: Stewart McLean

She hoped the representative honour would help her take her game to another level as she strives for an opportunity to reach her goal of playing professionally.

“It was a challenging weekend,” she said.

“We started with our 1km time trial, which they use for QAS data, and then the squad was split into four teams and we just played three games every couple hours or so.

“It wasn’t really about the skills you have in particular, it was more about having that ‘hockey brain’, your attitude towards the game, being aware of what’s going on, looking like you want to be out there and, if you do make a mistake, making an effort to fix it. I think that sort of stuff is really important and they notice it as well.”

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The upcoming tournament will be McArthur’s first with the U18s side. She made shadow last year, however, the team did not compete due to the impacts of COVID-19.

“I’m just going to take it step by step and whatever comes from it will just be a bonus from what I’m focusing on at the moment,” she said.

“Just to see the standards that I need to maintain to be in the high-performance squads and just to be pushed harder and see the different talent across Australia.

“They identify a lot of QAS athletes and use that to select players for other competitions, like Hockey One, and from there they pick the Hockeyroos squad.

Cairns Hockey player Liv McArthur has made the Queensland under-18s side and will head to the Australian Under-18s National Championships in April. Picture: Stewart McLean

“I’ll see what comes out of this national tournament, but I’m also playing Div 1 in Brisbane so I’m hoping to just be seen from that.”

Fellow Cairns product Sarah Cochran, who has also moved to Brisbane and will play for Commercial Cobras this year, was selected in the Queensland U18s girls’ side, while Shaylee Atkinson and Brayden Naess were named as shadows in the girls’ and boys’ team, respectively.

“I’m particularly close with Sarah, so we’ve been hanging out down there and we’ve been training together as well.

“It really helps with that preparation to have friends down there.”

Originally published as Cairns teen Liv McArthur chasing hockey goals in the big smoke