Queensland Hockey’s best teenage players of 2022
Meet Queensland’s top 60 junior Queensland Hockey’s talents of 2022 from Mackay, Wide Bay, the Gold Coast and Brisbane. FULL LIST
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The future of Queensland Hockey could not be in better hands given the high class teenage talent on offer.
At a time when the sport was thriving at senior level courtesy of the Sultana Bran Hockey One League - broadcast on News Corp’s Kayo and Fox Sports channels - Queenslanders were also kicking goals in the junior age groups.
Here we present Queensland’s next generation stars, the teenage high achievers of 2022.
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Claire Colwill
The boom 19-year-old midfielder is among the best two or three teenagers in the business, having broken into the Hockeyroos in clashes with New Zealand during the Trans-Tasman Series in May. She also played for Australia at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, winning a silver medal
A young achiever, the St Patrick’s Mackay product was a Brisbane Blaze representative as early as aged 16, and last year was nominated for the 2021 Queensland Junior Sports Star of the Year. Another moment to cherish earlier in her career was taking Mackay to the under 18 state championship win for the first time in almost three decades.
Georgina West
A St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School sporting captain, the 18-year-old is in both the Australian under 18s futures and also an Australian women’s junior squad member. A renowned attacking midfielder from Kedron Wavell, she captained the Queensland Maroon (No.1) side at the under 18 nationals where she was a prolific goal scorer, and will have one eye on pushing for selection at the Women’s Junior Word Cups in December 2023. This season West also played for the Queensland under 21s and is a member of the Brisbane Blaze senior squad.
Jordan Bliss
What’s in the water in Mackay when it comes to producing elite hockey talent? The women’s junior squad member joined Colwill in the 2019 helping Mackay to its drought breaking under 18 state championship win. A former St Patrick’s College Mackay school captain, the 19-year-old goalkeeper has been a Queensland representative since aged under 12s.
Hannah Cullum-Sanders
The born and bred Maryborough product, Cullum-Sanders, 19, also made her senior international debut this year during the Trans-Tasman Series in Auckland and then played for Australia at the 2022 World Cup, winning a bronze medal. A Aldridge State High School alumni who plays for Redcliffe League, Cullum-Sanders used the enforced COVID-19 lockdown to work on fringe areas of her game. Whatever she did worked, with Cullum-Sanders scoring seven goals for Queensland in the 2021 Australian under 18 Championships.
Kyra Livermore
The Arana Ascot premiership winner is an elite defender who won the Ronda Nix Medal as the best and fairest player in the Brisbane women’s Premier League 1 competition for 2022.
Aged 18, she joins Georgina West as both an Australian under 18 and also a Senior Women’s Futures’ squad member and is one of the very best prospects Queensland has.
Chloe Daly
Daly is both an indoor and outdoor goalkeeping young gun who is a part of the Australian Women’s Futures under 18 squad. Originally from the Sunshine Coast where she was once named the Sunshine Coast Hockey Associations Junior Female player (2017), Daly is now a BWHA young gun entrenched at Kedron Wavell.
Grace Dixon
A member of the Australian Women’s Futures under 18 squad, the Matthew Flinders Anglican College Year 12 student is a multi-talented athlete who was a College First XI soccer representative, and a big-hearted cross country competitor. But it is on the hockey field where Dixon does her best sporting work, having earlier in the year helped Queensland’s under 18s win the national championships.
Andie Griffin
A proud product of the Wallaroo Hockey Club based in the famous sporting town of Maryborough, the Tinana prospect earlier in the year produced a Player of the Match performance for Queensland No.2 against Queensland No.1 at the under 18 national championships. Griffin is a renowned distributor who always seems to know where to place her pass.
Mihaylia Howell
The Narangba Valley State High School is a member of the Australian Women’s Futures under 18 squad who plies her skills with Kedron Wavell Hockey Club where she is one of the best striker prospects in Queensland. Identified early as a 13-year-old where she won selection in the state under 15 years’ side, Howell was also a 2022 16 years and under All Australian Girls team member.
Madeline Kenny
Another from the Heritage City’s Wallaroo Hockey Club, Kenny had the honour earlier in the year of being coached by Queensland hockey greats Mark Hager and Mark Knowles at the Australian Women’s Futures under 18 squad. Blessed with exceptional speed and skill, Kenny (now Kedron Wavell) has an uncanny ability to position herself which was on show at the under 18 years national championships – including during her Player of the Match performance.
Fiona Laybutt
From the sporting-rich Tweed Heads region just south of the border, the Kingscliff Hockey Club junior has played her way into the Australian Women’s Futures under 18 squad. From Mount St Patrick College in the Murwillumbah district, Laybutt has been in the Queensland representative system since the under 13s.
Camryn Mathison
The Gold Coast young gun has been a hockey representative since the age of 12 when she helped the state side to a silver medal at the nationals. Mathison is from the Burleigh club where, as the club’s highest goal scoring achiever, she was once presented with the Malone Medallion. Also a 2022 16 years and under All Australian Girls team selection, she now plays for St Andrews in Brisbane.
Ivy Matthews
Queensland’s youth representative teams were spoiled with elite goalkeepers and Ivy Matthews adds to the Maroons’ hockey riches in this department. Identified by the Australia Women’s Futures under 18 women selectors, Matthews burst onto the scene as a Queensland under 12 championship winning player and has not lost stride since. She plays for the University of Queensland Club.
Annelyse Tevant
Both a member of the Australian indoor squad and the Australian Futures under 18 squad, Tevant, 17, is yet another Maryborough junior who is renowned for her tenacious play. A real terrier who oozes enthusiasm, Tevant, a St Mary’s College student, leaves nothing in the tank when she plays her matches.
Savannah Trapp
There is no finer sporting nursery in Australia than the Darling Downs and you can add Trapp to the list of sporting high achievers from the region. A St Ursula’s College product, Trapp this year had a golden six weeks helping Queensland No.2 win at the national under 18 championships, earning Australian Women’s Futures under 18 squad selection and then scoring a goal as Toowoomba claimed the Queensland Open women’s championship. She plays for Norths in the BWHA competition, and for Past High Hockey Club when in Toowoomba.
Karissa Van der Wath
From the Commercial club, Van der Wath is a graduate from the under 15s who confirmed her place in the 2022 Australian Women’s Futures under 18 squad after an impressive under 18 campaign for Queensland earlier in the year. The Brisbane State High School product also thrived in her age group during school competition, making the 2022 All Australian Girls 16 Years and Under side.
Demi Walker
In sport, was Mackay’s Demi Walker ever going to be anything else other than an outstanding hockey player? When your cousin (Kirtsen Dwyer) is a former Hockeyroo, and your older sister (Keeley) an former All Australian Schoolgirls representative and current Brisbane Blaze player, the chances are you will be a hockey player as well.
But despite having high achieving relatives, Walker is amassing her own honour list of sporting achievements. After making her first Queensland representative team in 2018 as an under 13 indoor representative, last year she was selected well out of her age group to play in the state under 21 side. The Norths Hockey Club junior also made the Queensland under 21s again this season, and is now in the national under 18s Futures Squad as well.
Eliza White
A two-time Queensland under 18 representative and state under 21 shadow player, White played her way into the 16 years and under School Sport Australian Girls team earlier in the year. White, an All Hallows’ School old girl, has learned her craft through the St Andrews Ladies Hockey Club
Ryley Bobart
A young veteran of Queensland junior representative teams, the midfielder from Gladstone’s Meteors Hockey Club was enjoying his second season as a member of the Australian Futures Under 18 squad. A former Queensland indoor keeper, the Gladstone State High School student continues to go from strength to strength.
Daniel Burge
The Red Lion junior has ricocheted from under 12s to under 15s to twice play for the Queensland under 18s – including this year when the side surged from a 3-0 deficit in the bronze playoff to draw 3-all – and then win the shootout. The young goalkeeper is just one of eight Queenslanders hand picked by the national selectors to earn Australian Futures Squad (under 18s) selection.
Tom Campbell
Could 2022 get any better on the sporting field for Mount Rascal’s Tom Campbell? We doubt it. The Darling Darling hockey ace has garnished the year by being named in the Queensland under 21 side – at the ripe old age of 16. He is the baby of that squad, but was one of the team leaders in the Queensland under 18s which launched a stunning recovery to win the bronze medal at the nationals. In between these achievements, the Year 11 student at Centenary Heights State High School was named in the Australian Futures Squad under 18s.
Noah Fahy
Fahy has set a remarkable example to his peers at the Banks Hockey Club, rising from under 8s to make the Queensland under 18 team and win selection in the Under 18 Australian Futures squad. He spent his formative years in the Top End, until moving to Brisbane to further his hockey career – a move which is paying dividends in a big way.
William Ready
From the Darling Downs town of Warwick, Ready was a child prodigy who has risen through the ranks to be identified as one of Queensland’s finest prospects. As a child he was named vice-captain of the Queensland side which competed at the Pacific Games and five years later he remains a shooting star with selection in the Under 18 Australian Futures squad. He is a product of Warwick SHS.
Oliver Harding
Both a Queensland indoor and outdoor representative, Harding is a young gun who played his way into the Under 18 Australian Futures squad after helping the Maroons win an extraordinary bronze medal decider at the national championship earlier in the season. The Toowoomba Grammar School student from the Red Lions Club announced himself as a player of the future when, in 2018, he helped the Queensland hockey side claim a bronze medal at the Pacific School Games.
Ryan Wilcox
Wilcox rode the emotional roller coaster before finishing a winner alongside his teammates at the under 18 national championships this year. Wilcox, yet another from Maryborough’s famous Wallaroos Hockey Club, was the Queensland captain when his side found themselves trailing 3-nil in the under 18 bronze medal game. But Wilcox helped rally his side to get to 3-all by full-time - and then win the clash during a knife edge shootout. This is his second year as an Australian Futures Under 18 squad member.
William Powell
Powell is no flash in the pan. In 2017 as an under 13 player, Powell joined fellow high achieving Gold Coaster Camryn Mathison (see above) in the Queensland under 13 teams bound for the national championships. Five seasons later Powell is still kicking goals later, and joins his old touring partner Mathison (women) in the Australian Futures Under 18 squads.
Grace Dixon
A year Year 12 at Matthew Flinders Anglican College, the young forward has something a coach cannot teach – speed to burn. But the Cooloola Heat product also has a great game awareness and continues to improve after first breaking into a Queensland side in 2019 at under 15 level. Earlier this year she was a goal scoring machine in helping Queensland No.2 to its 2022 upset national championship win.
Owen Taylor, Joel Hubbard, Hayden Scholes and Joshua Salvage
This magnificent foursome shone brightest at the under 15 state championships, with former Kawungan State School student Taylor named Player of Tournament. The 14-year-old had made up for lost time, overcoming the disappointment of missing the 2021 nationals (due to coronavirus) to be a young star this year at the Australian championships.
Easts junior Hubbard, 15, who is from a prominent Queensland hockey family, rose to the occasion in the Division 1 final for Brisbane 1 where he was named Player of the Match while Salvage, 13, from the Sunshine Coast, had the honour of being named the tournament’s Rising Star.
In addition Norths Hockey Club’s Hayden Scholes, representing Brisbane 2, was named the goalkeeper of the championship.
Scholes was also joined in the Queensland under 15 side by his Brisbane Grammar School mate, Jordan Donald, and with the likes of Donald, Brock Philip, Lachy Savage, Max Montgomery, Will Cronk and Lennox Hassum also coming through the ranks, Queensland hockey is in good hands
Laura Camilleri, Scarlett Sadler, Kara Bradley, Syke Vaughan
What an awesome foursome Queensland hockey has coming through the ranks.
At the under 15 state championships, Camilleri was named the Player of the Tournament while Sadler (Kingscliff Hockey Club) was named goalkeeper of the championship.
Player of the Division 1 Final was Ascot Arana’s Kara Bradley whose tournament effort included five goals in one game.
Mackay’s Skye Vaughan, aged just 13, was named Rising Star following the under 15 nationals.
And with the likes of Eleanor Holmes and Lily Richardson also leading the way, Queensland’s future was beaming at junior level.
Georgia Harris
The Ascot Arana Panthers junior was both a School Sport Australia 16 and a member of the giant-killing Queensland No.2 under 18 representative side which swept all before them this season at the nationals.
Bobbie Hamlet
The Downlands College gun goalkeeping schoolgirl made both the School Sport Australia 16 and Under side as a goalkeeper, and also the Queensland under 18s squad.
Meka Crick
The Granville Hockey Club junior from St Mary’s College produced a memorable double in 2022 - she made both the Queensland 18s and also the School Sport Australia 16 and Under side.
Tammin Andrews
Keebra Park SHS student Andrews was a grand final, goal scoring hero when she helped the Gold Coast secure the girls title at the under 18 state championships earlier in the season. She was crowned Player of the Division 1 final for her efforts, then later named in both the Queensland under 18s and School Sport Australia 16 and Under side.
Nina Murphy
From the Casuarina Hockey Club on the Tweed Coast, Murphy was both a Queensland under 18s representative and School Sport Australia 16 and Under selection this season.
Cooper Mackenzie
The Park Avenue Brothers Hockey Club has had a big 2022, making both the School Sport Australia 16 Years and Under side, and also and helping Queensland win a bronze medal in the under 18 state at the national championships.
Matthew Hawthorne
Hawthorne became a two-time Queensland under 18 representative this year after also making the same squad 12 months earlier. Then icing his achievements this season was his selection in the School Sport Australia 16 Years and Under side.
Kaleb Benney
Yet another Gold Coast product who was once an ice hockey exponent, Benney brought his hand-eye coordination to field hockey where he played for the Queensland under 18 side and was also named in the School Sport Australia 16 and Under.
Dominic Anderson
Renowned for his work rate on and off the ball, Anderson rose this season to make both the Queensland under 18 side and also the School Sport Australia 16 and Under outfit.
A 2023 senior at St Patricks College Shorncliffe where he will be a House Captain, Anderson is a strong defensive player for Valley’s Hockey Club. Indeed this year he received the club’s highest junior club award of most promising Junior player award.
Ryan Cartwright
Cartwright produced a cherished double this season - playing for the Queensland under 18s and also being a member of the School Sport Australia 16 Years and Under squad member.
Jauden Lenzina
From the rich hockey pastures of Rockhampton, ace goalkeeper Lenzina made the School Sport Australia 16 Years and Under this year after last year making the Queensland under 15s side.
Jesse Benders and Kaleb Mayfield
North Lakes product Benders and renowned link Mayfield were both named as shadow players for the School Sport Australia 16 Years and Under squad, a huge achievement for the pair.
Elise Condon, Sophie Edwards, Alexandria Risetto and co
Condon was a schoolgirl prodigy, remarkably making her BWHA Division 1 debut aged just 14 with the Norths club when the young midfielder came on as a substitute – not long after being named Queensland Fire’s best player at the 13 years indoor national championships. Now at Kedron Wavell, Condon remains a high achiever who earlier this year represented the championship winning Queensland No.2 (Gold) team at the under 18 nationals. Her teammates in Queensland side which upset Queensland’s No.1 side (the Maroons) included Jade Bartholomeuze, who scored a double against South Australia, Claire Seaton, Lauren Deldot, Lucy Fitzpatrick, Ellie Kendall who scored against South Australia, Talytha MacDonald and Sophia Papantoniou who scored single goals in three matches.
Alexandria Risetto who made her two goals at the championship count in the big games - one against NSW and the other in the semi-final against Tasmania, as did Freya Horton who found the back of the net when Queensland needed it most in a tight semi-final contest against Tasmania.
Queensland’s Gold (No.2 side) captain was Sophie Edwards who scored four goals across the nationals, including one in the 2-1 grand final win over Queensland No.1.
Sophie Davis and Lyla Pyle
Both girls played themselves to the brink of 16 years and under Australian team selection, falling just short to be named shadow players. It was still a big effort by Townsville’s Davies and Ascot Arana’s Pyle, with Pyle coming off playing for the Queensland under 15s.
Jamie-Lee Surha
The sister of Queensland under 21 representative Brinna, Mackay North SHS’s Jamie-Lee Surha made the 2022 Australian Women’s Emerging Indoor Squad after helping the Queensland No.2 side to its upset win over Queensland No.1 at the national under 18 championships when she was a constant goal scoring threat.
Quintyn Laskey-Vella
Laskey-Vella burst into the Queensland under 18s after an outstanding state championship when his goal keeping deeds helped the Gold Coast secure the 2022 title. Fellow Gold Coasters joining Laskey-Vella in the state under 18 sides were Kyan Murphy and Ashton Price.
Brayden Naess, Cooper Punch and co
From a high achieving Brisbane hockey family, Cooper Punch was the hero for the Queensland under 18s Maroon side which came from back in the field to snare a bronze medal at the nationals.
Punch scored in the 48th minute - his team’s third goal - as Queensland came back from a 3-0 deficit to draw level - and then win the shootout.
Punch scored single goals across four games at the championships, including in the grand final.
Brayden Naess was also a go-to player for the Maroons, twice scoring doubles then adding another goal later in the tournament.
The boys teammates in the Queensland Maroons included Jai Cass, who scored three goals, Brock Christensen, Cade Coghlan, Joshua Nixon and Patrick Sheedy.
Members of the Queensland Gold under 18s included Samuel Aitkenhead, Jacob Anderson, Tomas Burgess, Archie Cameron, Jesse Folpp, Jack Hawthorne, Hayden Mellifont, Matthew Miles, Brock Philip, Sam Riggs, Connor Ring, Lachlan Robertson, Rhys Stenzel and Isaac Wales.
Sinead Swartz
Kedron Wavell’s Swartz was a goal sneak during the Queensland Maroons campaign at the under 18 nationals, on four occasions scoring single goals including in the grand final when her 54th minute strike levelled the scores against Queensland Gold. Among her teammates in the Queensland Maroons included Montana Carr, Amity Humphreys, ace goalkeeper Madyson Jones and Ashleigh Sievers.
Footnote: Special mention to Bundaberg’s Bridget Stehbens (Best Player Division 2), Warwick’s Lily Malone (Best Player Division 3) and Townsville’s Kyle Bullen (Best Player Div 2) who were award winners from the state under 15 championships, and also to Bailey Charlesworth (Gold Coast, Player of Div 1 under 18 state final) and Samuel Aitkenhead (Gold Coast, Player of the Div 2 under 18 state carnival).
Originally published as Queensland Hockey’s best teenage players of 2022
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