Aspiring hockey players in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands were given a treat last week with a special visit from two Hockeyroos stars.
Jane Claxton the captain of the Australian women's hockey side and Rachael Lynch the goalkeeper visited the two countries where they stopped by schools and held clinics.
Jane said they gained plenty of fans including the Solomons' Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.
“It shows how easy going they are and accepting since it was amazing how high profile people in both Pacific islands were present and allowing us to train over there and assist in their hockey program and increasing their women in sports,” said Jane.
It was awesome to see how men were encouraging them.
“The younger players were quite excited and it’s good to see how passionate they are to engage in sports and that they wanted to play hockey,” added Jane.
“The players don’t have facilities and resources to continue to develop and in Vanuatu we noticed that players were quite amazing and they will be able to play easily in our premier.
Jane also mentioned the issue that is in the Pacific is that they have some type of funding and don’t have competence funding and education how to maintain their sporting facilities including hockey.
Jane advised the young players that it is hard for an athlete to come from Pacific because they do not have facilities like Australia and she advised that young players should turn up everyday with a purpose.
Photo: adelaidenow (Jane Claxton the captain of the Australian women's hockey side)