A BIRKDALE 21-year-old man, Tim Howard, is set to make his national hockey debut with the Kookaburras next month.
The team’s 19-players were announced yesterday by Hockey Australia ahead of the International Festival of Hockey, on from November 5 to November 12 at Melbourne.
Australian coach Colin Batch described Howard as a good midfielder and deserving of the opportunity.
Howard said his debut against New Zealand, Pakistan and Japan, if successful, would qualify him to join the Kookaburras at Hockey Australia’s high performance unit in Perth.
“It is a pretty big opportunity for me and I am hoping to get invited to the national program,” he said.
Howard was one of three debuts selected for the national squad, joining the Gold Coast’s Corey Weyer and Western Australia’s Jake Harvie.
While Howard has always dreamed of playing with the Kookaburras, the milestone achievement is one of many sporting successes racked up by the Easts Hockey Club player.
The Iona College graduate captained the Australian U21s, has represented Queensland for the past decade and competed at both the junior world cup and youth Olympics.
Despite the lengthy sporting CV, Howard said he was surprised at his selection for the Kookaburras.
“I found out on Tuesday and it was overwhelming and surprising,” he said.
“I am very stoked and happy to be in the team. It shows hard work pays off.”
Howard said he trained about 20 hours a week to build up stamina and skills, finding the time alongside his business degree studies.
He is set to join two other south-east Queensland players in the national squad and will fly out late next week for the competition.
Love of hockey is in the Howard family – Howard, who has played for the past 12 years, said his mother had represented Queensland in the sport, with his grandparents once also enjoying the game.
