Shelley Watson definitely knows a thing or two about hockey!
Shelley has been playing ever since she was six years old, kick-starting a life-long love of the game, and a playing career of 20 years.
“I’ve played my whole life – club, state and Aussie stuff as well,” she said.
Shelley is currently in charge of Participation and Events at Hockey ACT, a state that she’s proud to say produces some incredible hockey talent.
“At the moment we have four people in the current Australia team, two female and two male. We probably have five athletes in junior squads, and a further six athletes in the under-18 future stuff,” she said.
“In the ACT we send teams away to championships [of every age], and we have a pretty good record, especially in the female side of things,” she said.
Shelley also explains that the ACT is “definitely” full of promising young up-and-comers.
On the recent NSR trials with Hockey ACT, Shelley said the event was “really good”, attracting a “variety of ages”.
“They were all very eager and keen, and everything ran very smoothly,” she said.
Shelley believes sport is a very passionate thing, so that “any opportunity that you can play and get an education”, is something she thinks a lot of girls would take up.
She also highlights of “the travel side” of the NSR program, which allows students to go outside their own countries, being something “that spikes a lot of interest in the girls.”
Awesome insight, Shelley!