Vantage Black Sticks squad named for camp

Vantage Black Sticks Mens head coach Darren Smith has named a squad of 34 players for an upcoming selection camp in Auckland.

The purpose of the camp is to assess talented players who stood out this year at the Vantage Under 18s, Vantage Under 21s, Ford National Hockey League and Australian Hockey League tournaments.

Athletes will be put through an extensive six days of hockey, physical, psychological and leadership challenges from 5-10 December.

Performances at the camp will help decide final selections of the 2018 National and Development squads.

Not all 2017 National Squad members will take part in the camp with several being moved immediately onto their physical programme following an intense 12 months of international and European club commitments.

"This is a fantastic opportunity to bring players who have come through our talent system into the Vantage Black Sticks environment and see how they stack up," Smith said.

"You look at the likes of Hayden Phillips, who came into the national programme as a 17-year-old and ended up earning a spot at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

"We have a lot of talented athletes around the country so the sooner we can expose them to top level hockey and everything that comes with that the better."

VANTAGE BLACK STICKS MEN - NATIONAL CAMP

5-10 December, Auckland

PLAYER NAME / REGION / POSITION / AGE

Reuben ANDREWS / Midlands / Defender / 19

Cory BENNETT / North Harbour / Defender / 26

David BRYDON / Canterbury / Defender / 21

Malachi BUSCHL / Southern / Midfielder / 18

James COUGHLAN / North Harbour / Midfielder / 27

George CONNELL / Canterbury / Defender / 27

Rob CREFFIER / Central / Midfielder / 25

Dom DIXON / Southern / Goalkeeper / 21

Nick ELDER / Southern / Midfielder / 24

George ENERSEN / Canterbury / Goalkeeper / 26

Connor GREENTREE / North Harbour / Midfielder / 18

Daniel HARRIS / North Harbour / Striker / 20

Cam HAYDE / Canterbury / Striker / 26

Sam HIHA / Central / Striker / 20

Kalyan JERAM / North Harbour / Striker / 20

Richard JOYCE / North Harbour / Goalkeeper / 25

Jonty KEANEY / Midlands / Striker / 22

Kim KINGSTONE / Auckland / Midfielder/Striker / 23

Mick LAMMERS / North Harbour / Goalkeeper / 23

Harry LAWSON / Central / Midfielder / 18

Dane LETT / Capital / Defender / 27

Harry MISKIMMIN / Capital / Defender / 23

Leo MITAI-WELLS / Midlands / Midfielder/Striker / 22

George MUIR / North Harbour / Midfielder / 23

Dominic NEWMAN / Canterbury / Midfielder/Striker / 20

Kieran OCONNOR / Southern / Midfielder/Striker / 22

Jared PANCHIA / Auckland / Striker / 24

Brad READ / Capital / Defender / 22

Hayden PHILLIPS / Central / Midfielder / 19

Aidan SARIKAYA / Midlands / Midfielder / 21

Jacob SMITH / Capital / Striker / 26

Dylan THOMAS / Central / Striker / 21

Benedict van WOERKOM / Capital / Midfielder/Striker / 25

Mac WILCOX / Central / Striker / 21



- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Hockey NZ