Daniel has been named in the squad to represent the area at the CHS Boys State Hockey Championships that will run in Pennant Hills, Sydney, next week. 

Tania White checked the records at the school and said she couldn’t find any player representing the squad later than about 1998. 

Daniel made selection with the line-up after being accepted into a preliminary squad with four fellow Bega High School players. 

Rohan Barber, Jamie O’Brien, Jayden Heyhorn and Ethan Ryan were all named in the 28-man preliminary squad that was cut in half during selection trials in Wollongong recently.

Unfortunately the group was cut from the final roster, but Daniel’s name emerged on the finished player list to represent the South Coast team, where he will play goalie for the squad.  

Daniel began his hockey career as goalie with the under 15s representative side and has worked hard on developing his skills for the past few years. 

He was part of the special training clinic with Hockeyroos players in 2013, which really sparked his passion for the position. 

Daniel said he was able to learn some key skills off then Australian Hockeyroos goalie Nathan Burgers. 

The visit was part of a 1&9 coaching clinic headed up by gold medallist Mark Knowles and featured the bronze-medal winning Burgers as a guest coach specifically for goalies.

The youngster continues to play local competition with the Magpies men’s team and earned the honour of being named man of the match in last year’s grand final. 

Pambula scored the win on the day, but Daniel stamped his authority on the goalie spot with numerous phenomenal saves and some great clearances. 

Daniel thanked his training mate, Ben Mead, who has helped out by shooting plenty of balls at the goals in practice sessions. 

Ms White assists a lot with organising trips away for the players and ongoing hockey matches and was pleased by Daniel’s selection. 

Bega High School and Daniel’s mates have wished him all the best for matches to be held next week.