PERTH, 18 June 2022: The Hockeyroos will call Europe home for the next two months after the squad jetted out of Perth for the upcoming FIH Women’s World Cup 2022 Spain & Netherlands (1-17 July) and Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games (28 July – 8 August).
The Hockeyroos travelling party will land in the Netherlands to finalise its preparations before relocating to Terrassa, Spain – the city the Hockeyroos will play their three World Cup Pool matches.
The Hockeyroos open their World Cup campaign against Japan at 5 am AEST on Sunday 3 July before matches against Belgium and South Africa.
Similarly to the lead into last year’s Olympics, the Hockeyroos have had limited international competition in the build up to the tournament, their only internationals being the recent 4-match Trans-Tasman Series against New Zealand.
But after going through the series undefeated against the Black Sticks, coupled with some fresh faces joining a host of experienced players in the squad, Hockeyroos Head Coach Katrina Powell is buoyant about what her team can show on the world stage.
“From a training perspective and our matches against New Zealand, we’re in a good place to be heading over (to Europe),” said Powell.
“It’s just hard to tell where we are really at because we haven’t had further exposure to international competition other than those matches with New Zealand.”
“It’s very exciting to be heading off and getting almost a whole year’s worth of competition in the next two months.”
“We have got plenty of new, younger athletes and there is still plenty of experience in the group, so I’m really excited to see how they can develop as a team and how we can maximise the strengths of each individual player.”
The Hockeyroos have won the World Cup twice (1994, 1998). At the last edition of the tournament in 2018 Australia finished fourth.
Every match of the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup 2022 Spain & Netherlands will be broadcast LIVE in Australia on Fox Sports and Kayo.
FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup 2022 Spain & Netherlands
Hockeyroos Pool Matches
v Japan (Sunday 3 July, 5.30am AEST)
v Belgium (Wednesday 6 July, 5.30 am AEST)
v South Africa (Thursday 7 July, 5.30 am AEST)
Hockeyroos squad – FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Spain & Netherlands 2022
Jocelyn Bartram (gk), Jane Claxton, Claire Colwill, Hannah Cullum-Sanders, Madison Fitzpatrick, Rebecca Greiner, Stephanie Kershaw, Amy Lawton, Ambrosia Malone, Kaitlin Nobbs, Meg Pearce, Brooke Peris, Aleisha Power (gk), Harriet Shand, Karri Somerville, Penny Squibb, Grace Stewart, Mariah Williams
