Doncaster Hockey Club’s Hayley Padget is a step closer to Tokyo 2020 after Hockeyroos selection

Doncaster Hockey Club’s Hayley Padget hit another career high point last week with her selection in the 2019 Hockeyroos squad.

Doncaster Hockey Club’s Hayley Padget made her Hockeyroos debut against Japan at the Four Nations Tournament in September and scored her first Australian goal.

But, just last week, she hit another career high point with her selection in the 2019 Hockeyroos squad.

With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics just a little over 18 months away, all the very best players in the country were vying for selection in the national squad, Padget now has her seat at the pointy end.

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Hayley Padget in a Champions Trophy match against the Netherlands in China in November

At a quick glance it might be thought Padget is an overnight success: Australian debut in September and 2019 national squad by December appears a rapid rise.

However, Padget’s journey hasn’t exactly been plain sailing.

Padget has been on the fringe of Hockeyroos selection for a number of years; part of the National Development Squad since 2014, playing for Australia at under-23 level and living in Perth, the heart of national hockey, in 2015.

But injuries over the past four years have seen Padget spend almost as much time off the pitch as on it.

Padget’s first set back was the classic overuse problem of groin pain, osteitis pubis.

For two years she juggled staying very fit and resting as much as possible, never a simple exercise.

Then a stress fracture in her thigh bone took her off the pitch for nine months, probably the best rest needed for her groin pain.

Tokyo 2020 is just that little bit closer

In the time out of the elite level Padget did wonder if she may have missed the boat.

“It kind of forced me to redefine myself,” she said. “But spending so much time on the sidelines I realised how much you can influence someone’s day by cheering them on, support is every bit as important as performance.

“When I got back to play I had more focus on how others are feeling first then turning to my own thoughts pre-match. When I went to Japan and then China this year, my focuses were clear.”

Padget’s new mental approach, ahead of playing with the Hockeyoos in Japan and China, may have been the change that has seen her take that next step.

Having just been added to the Hockeyroos squad, the next challenge for Padget is the FIH (International Hockey Federation) Pro League starting in February.

No time to sit back and relish her Hockeyroos selection, Padget is straight into work at the top level.

“I can’t wait to see how next year pans out,” she said. “But from my past, I know I’m ready.” And Padget isn’t the only Doncaster player in Hockey Australia’s elite group.

Josh Simmonds moved to Perth in June this year and has also been selected in the 2019 Kookaburras squad.

Simmonds is also working at full steam and looking to the Pro League as his first challenge of the new year.