ABBM Liz Duve in action during the national country hockey titles.

Three Navy hockey players have been named in the Australian country hockey squad to compete at the Arafura Games in Darwin in May.

This followed the completion of the Australian Country Hockey Championships in Adelaide last year.

LEUT Cayzer won selection in the men's Australian country hockey team, while AB Candice Freeman was named in the women's squad and LEUT Donna Douglass was picked as one of the reserves.

ADF goalkeeper LEUT Cayzer was rewarded after being named the best and fairest player at the national country titles where he took home the Mick Anderson Medal.

It was a rare honour for a goalkeeper to win such an award and recognised the high number of extremely difficult saves that LEUT Cayzer had to make in every game.

It caps off a couple of very good seasons for LEUT Cayzer, after he was selected in the Australian Country teams in 2003 and 2004 and toured New Zealand in May 2004.

LEUT Cayzer has played Premier A 1st in Sydney and currently plays for the Briars sporting club.

It was a good result considering that both ADF men's and women's hockey teams missed out on playing in the finals during the country championships.

The ADF men's hockey team had its chances to beat the best teams at the Australian Country Hockey Championships but was unable to finish them off after several solid starts.

The men had a chance to make the finals, only needing a draw in the last round game against Victoria to secure fourth place.

However, the Victorians scored from a penalty corner in the dying minutes to deny the ADF. The men's team then had to face up to South Australia and produced a solid performance in the last game to win impressively 5-3.

The squad and coaching staff recognised several players for their performances during the championship and awarded trophies to the best and fairest player LEUT Stuart Cayzer, players' player CPL Adam Spry and most improved player CPL Phil Southern.

Thanks and recognition also went to squad manager CAPT Nikki Bradley, team manager WO Scotty Downs, video tech SGT David Johnson, assistant coach SGT Ron Fairhall and coach SGT Terry Brodin.

Players gain selection

Meanwhile, The ADF women’s team was not able to find the scoring results it desired and deserved during the championships.

The team’s defence was regarded as one of the best at the championships, only conceding eight goals in five games, but struggled to put the ball in the back of the net.

Although the team easily finished in fourth position, its inability to score at the other end did not bring the results of the games needed to qualify for the finals.

This did not deter the team in its last game against South Australia as the women came out and displayed a far greater resolve to score.

The squad and coaching staff recognised several players for their performances during the championship and awarded trophies to the best and fairest player to AB Freeman, players’ player Sam Spry, and the most improved SCDT Ingrid Marchant.

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