Australia Announces National U18 Youth Team for 2010
Today IHA’s 2010 National U18 Team Officials announced the players for IHA's 2010 National U18 Team who will be competing at the IIHF 2010 World U18 Division II Championships in Kiev, Ukraine from the 22nd-28th of March 2010.
Australia was promoted back to Division II after a fantastic 2009 championship in Chinese Taipei where Australia dominated the competition on their way to winning the Gold Medal. In the four games Australia played in Taipei, they scored a combined 63 goals for and only 3 goals against in 4 games.
Head Coach, Pier Martin, stated - "We feel we have an excellent 2010 team who have the same ability to take on the challenge in Division II on achieving our goal of not only remaining in Division II, but also potentially being a contender for a medal. As a team, we have a mix of players who will be expected to play different roles and have high expectation the selected players will excel in these roles"
Team Manager, Paul Johnston, stated - ""Preparations for the trip are well underway and we are in good shape for our journey to Kiev. With the addition of Shane McLeod, as the Strength and Conditioning coach, and the returning staff from 2009, I am confident that this years' trip will be a huge success. We have the right people, with the right skills and experience, in the right places."
IHA President and Team Chef de Mission, Don Rurak, stated - "This is an extremely important championship for our U18 team in terms of world ranking as the IIHF will be finalising the restructuring of the World Championships for 2011 and future. The majority of players have been participants of IHA’s and the IIHF’s Player Development Camps and will form the nucleus for another outstanding team. As the boys progress through their development, Australia continues to gain strength from year-to-year with a number of players achieving success beyond our expectations.”
The team will be hosting their pre-championship training camp at IHA’s Player Development and National Team Training Centre in Newcastle, Australia, prior to departing for the Ukraine for a further two days of acclimatization and the final stages of their preparation. The camps greatly assist with honing the final stages of the team's tactics and mental state in their final preparation.
Six teams (in order of ranking), Ukraine, Slovenia, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain and Australia, will be participating for an exciting and exhilarating Championship. Ukraine was relgated from Division I in 2009 and Australia were promoted from Division III.
With five returning players from the 2009 Gold Medal Squad, these players will bring the much needed international experience and mentorship to the younger core of players being added to the roster.
The Player Roster and Officials are (in order of their home state association):
Players:
Harry Byers (Forward)~ Australian Capital Territory
Billy Cliff (Forward) ~ New South Wales
Brendan McDowell (Forward) ~ Blackhawks - Victoria
Matt Mitcherson (Forward) ~ New South Wales
Jayden Ryan (Forward) ~ New South Wales
Nathan Walker (Forward)~ New South Wales
Spencer Austin (Defense) ~ New South Wales
Timothy Newmark (Defense) ~ New South Wales
Lukas Manco (Defense) ~ New South Wales
Joshua Broekman (Goalie) ~ New South Wales
Coby Bilton (Forward) ~ Queensland
Steve Best (Forward) ~ South Australia
Austin McKenzie (Forward) ~ Victoria
Kevin Dow (Defense) ~ Victoria
Brendan Oakes (Defense) ~ Victoria
Marcus Wong (Defense) ~ Victoria (played some Prem A games for Blackhawks in 2009)
Jordan Kyros (Forward) ~ Western Australia
Joshua Healey (Forward) ~ Western Australia
Ayden Millward (Goalie) ~ Western Australia
Team Officials
Don Rurak ~ Chef de Mission & Team Leader
Paul Johnston ~ Team Manager
Pier Martin ~ Team Coach
Steven Lindsay ~ Assistant Team Coach
Cheryl Outred ~ Medical Officer
Vince Outred ~ Equipment Officer
Shane McLeod ~ Strength and Conditioning Coach
The Blackhawks wish the team the best of luck and hope they can repeat their previous successes to bring back a medal.
