By Marc McGowan
BERWICK hockey star Claire Messent has been named in the national side for the prestigious Champions Trophy tournament in Argentina next month.
It has been an amazing year for the 21-year-old, who has also been selected in the 2007 Development Squad.
The Victorian Institute of Sport product was not originally picked in the Champions Trophy team but, as with her debut for the Hockeyroos in the Four-Nations tournament in the US this year, she benefited from an injury to South Australian midfielder Donna-Lee Patrick.
Messent is in London after taking part in the Australian Institute of Sport’s successful European tour last month, where they swept the French and Belgian national sides in the respective four-test series.
She will return home just after Christmas and will then travel to Canberra for a training camp from 4 to 8 January before leaving for Argentina with the Australian team on 9 January.
The striker-midfielder has earned a reputation as a goal-sneak after finishing fourth on the goal-scoring standings in this year’s Australian Hockey League season, snaring her first international goal at the Four-Nations tournament and netting a further four on the AIS tour.
The Hockeyroos are sending a youthful side to the Champions Trophy tournament, as Australian women’s hockey coach Frank Murray sees it as his players’ final opportunity to recuperate from injuries before beginning the run to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
“We looked at the playing group and which players needed time off to get their bodies right,” he said.
“A few players need to have surgery, too, so we wanted to make sure they are ready to go for the run to Beijing.”
Murray and the selection committee deliberated on Friday on who would take Patrick’s place in the side and Messent’s versatility played a pivotal role in the decision.
“I think Claire has a long way to go, but she has speed and knows where the goals are,” he said.
“She has a high work-rate and she imposes herself on the game. She’ll play across the lines; she’s very versatile and it will be a good test for her.”
Murray feels that Messent has the ability to succeed.
“She doesn’t just let the game happen around her; she wants to be a part of it,” he said.
“She still has a lot more to learn, but she’s a quick learner, a good kid and she fits in well with the group.”
He was impressed by her international debut at the Four-Nations tournament, where she competed against opposition from Argentina, the Netherlands and the US.
“For a first-up tournament, it was very good. Having said that, she also showed that she had a bit to go,” Murray said.
After the tournament, he informed Messent on several aspects of her game that she needed to improve on and was pleased to see that his young charge had heeded the advice on the AIS tour.
“I just asked her to work on her overall game. It’s from a technical-skill point of view,” Murray said.
“Her skill level needs to rise, but that’s something you find in all young players. She scored goals in the (AIS) games and we saw a definite progression in her .”
Picture: Meagan Rogers.
