Smithton Hockey Club’s best and brightest have been recognised for their efforts and given the chance to represent the state.

After a rigorous selection process, Hugh Dwyer and Kiah House made the final cut and were off to Narellan, New South Wales to take on the nation’s best in the Under 15 Australian Championships over seven days. 

Other state’s representatives were fiercely competitive but the Smithton boys were seemingly undaunted by the occasion. 

Tassie were off to a poor start, opening their campaign with an uncontested eight goal defeat from New South Wales State. 

Eventual premiers Western Australia Gold made things worse, putting five past the Tassie boys to win. From there, things took a dramatic turn for the better with a two-all draw against the Victorian Development side and Tasmania’s first win for the comp against Queensland Gold. 

The boys were competitive in all matches thereafter and finished a respectable seventh from 12 teams. 

The high quality opposition was of no concern to Kiah and Hugh, with Kiah scoring four of Tasmania’s eight goals and being named the team’s most valuable player. 

Fellow Smithton Hockey Club star Tomas Coker represented Tasmania in the Indoor Australian Hockey Championships in Goulburn, New South Wales in January. 

Tomas says he thoroughly enjoyed the trip, especially winning against some of the country’s best indoor hockey players. 

“I feel like I gained a lot of experience, especially [understanding] team structure,” he says.

“The competition was fierce, every team had their own unique talents and posed their own challenge.”

Coker’s performance interstate was strong, earning man of the match honours in the final match of the tour. 

The team was competitive in every clash but struggled to string four quarters together, taking out sixth place at week’s end.

Smithton Hockey Club’s Hugh Dwyer (left) and Kiah House (centre) represented Tasmania at the Under 15 Australian Championships while Tomas Coker wore the white to represent Tassie in the Australian Indoor Championships recently. Picture: Isaac Popowski.