Preview: Hockey Pro League
The Hockeyroos battle China and Spain this week in Sydney
For the first time in two years, some of the world’s best Hockey players have descended on Australian soil as the FIH Pro League gets underway on Tuesday in Sydney. The nine team round robin tournament features the best teams in the world, and acts as a qualifying tournament for next year’s World Cup (the Australian Hockeyroos won bronze at the 2022 World Cup).
Sydney will host the first leg of the tournament at the site of one the Hockeyroos’ finest moments - the 2000 Olympics gold medal, when the locals won at Sydney Olympic Park. The Australian women will take on Paris silver medalists China, plus the eighth ranked Spain. It was China who knocked out the Hockeyroos at the Paris Olympics in somewhat controversial circumstances, and so there is a sense of unfinished business for the Aussies.
Several of the Hockeyroos have just returned from India where they played in the inaugural Women’s Indian League. Aussie goalkeeper Jocelyn Bartram was a key part of the Odisha Warriors team which won the title, alongside Hockeyroos teammates Claire Colwill and Kaitlin Nobbs. Both Jocelyn and fellow Hockeyroos star Grace Stewart (who won bronze at the Indian League) spoke to HER WAY about the incredible experience it was to immerse themselves in the Indian culture with the help of their teammates:
“Hockey is such a big sport over there. Every game had such an amazing crowd and incredible atmosphere to play in”, Jocelyn shared.
With more domestic leagues seeing players from across the world becoming teammates, are there any pros and cons to playing alongside some of your international rivals?
“It’s always a difficult one trying to keep cards close to your chest and trying not to give away our Australian secrets but also trying to absorb all the little things they might be saying. It’s amazing for the international game - even going away and playing with some internationals, they were all asking about our local leagues here in Australia and how they might be able to get involved,” Jocelyn says.
The Hockeyroos come into this series after a quarter final exit at the Paris Olympics, the second Games in a row their tournament ended in the final eight. Many months have passed since that heartbreaking 3-2 loss to China. Hockeyroos star Grace Stewart (below) shared with HER WAY that players have individually reviewed their Paris performances, but having been together as a national squad for only a couple of training sessions, they haven’t done a group assessment of the tournament. Instead, they’re looking ahead as the team enters a new Olympics cycle:
“Coming off the back of an Olympics and not going how you want is always disappointing, but we’ve had a good break - girls have been off doing different things, we’ve played HockeyOne, we’ve got new and exciting faces coming into our team.”
Those new faces include Brisbane Blaze duo Morgan Mathison and Jade Smith, and Lexie Pickering, who was a dominant force in front of goal for Perth Thundersticks as they won the 2024 HockeyOne title.
Their emergence comes as the curtain came down on several amazing Hockeyroos careers, including Jane Claxton, Brooke Peris and Renee Taylor, and fans will get a chance to honour the retiring players at the Pro League this weekend.
For Spain, it’s about establishing a game style which suits their skillset and managing expectations, with just six players remaining from the squad which also bowed out at the Quarter Finals stage in Paris. Co-captain Lucía Jiménez Vicente was honest in how the Spanish team will approach the games:
“We are young and [have] not much experience. We hope to give the young ones an opportunity to shine. It’s going to be really difficult, they both play very physical, but they’re going to be nice games to watch.”
Even being in Australia is a huge step for the Spanish team, who have qualified for the FIH Pro League for the very first time.
“We spent three years trying to achieve this goal to be in the league. We’re looking forward to seeing what we have in this team,” Lucía proudly told HER WAY.
The matches will all be double headers with the men’s Kookaburras, and in a sign of hockey’s long-standing commitment to both teams, the Hockeyroos will be the second game on each of the days. With four chances to see them live, Aussie hockey fans are encouraged to get along to the games this week, and it means a lot to the players, who never take for granted the opportunity to wear the green and gold at home, as Grace Stewart shared:
“There’s nothing better than playing on home soil in front of friends and family, and it’s super special we have a few girls debuting who will get to do it in front of their family.”
Jocelyn Bartram’s messsge to the fans is clear:
“I think these games in Sydney, particularly being on home soil, we’ll be really proud to go out there and put a strong performance together. The four games we have here will all be excellent quality, and we look forward to really starting our year off strongly and challenging ourselves with good opposition.”
FIH Pro League Games (all times AEDT)
Tuesday 7:30pm - Spain v China
Wednesday 7:30pm - Hockeyroos v Spain
Thursday 7:30pm - Hockeyroos v China
Friday 7:30pm - China v Spain
Saturday 7:30pm - Hockeyroos v Spain
Sunday 7:30pm - Hockeyroos v China
All games will be broadcast on 7Plus