By JARROD POTTER
SHOWING Hockey Victoria selectors there is great talent from all across Victoria has been important for Drouin’s Luke Hall.
Hall, 17, has earned his second selection in the Hockey Victoria under-18 men’s team, which is usually dominated by inner suburban players at top-tier clubs, but the Gippsland Bulls key defender made the selectors pay attention.
He knows what it takes to earn the selectors’ praise and bring back the silverware with the Victorians clinching a nail-biting 2-1 win over the highly fancied New South Wales in last year’s championships held in Newcastle.
“The highlight was the final – we beat NSW 2-1 and that was after saving a shot on the line after the whistle – so that was really exciting – and we only scored that winning goal in the last four minutes or so,” Hall said.
Hall is part of a relatively similar team this year – with eight team mates from 2013 returning for the campaign this year in Canberra.
“It’s going to be tough – we’ve got eight of the same players and we’re really keen to repeat that success,” Hall said.
“I feel like our coach, Marty Demann, has a good idea of what we need to do and we’ve got a lot of younger players that are really talented.”
He’s also an integral part of his club’s side – the Gippsland Bulls -with the side securing promotion to Vic League 1 for 2014.
That’s in the Vic League 1 competition and after being promoted last year this is the highest league that our men’s team has ever been in throughout the history of the club which is exciting,” Hall said.
Hall encouraged anyone interested in playing hockey in the area to get down to Bellbird Park and not let the geographic divide between metropolitan and country players to stop you from aiming high.
“As for those people wanting to hit the high levels, don’t count yourself out,” Hall said.
“Challenge those best players and say to selectors ‘you’ve got to look at me, don’t blow me off as I am a country kid’ – that’s what I did last year and this year – made sure they would look at me.”
Hall wanted to thank Steve Pearce and Dave Cuthbertson for their support throughout his career as well as the entire Hockey Victorian under-18s team.
