Childhood teammates live dream

GABRIELLE Nance and Savannah Fitzpatrick were both eight years old when they first crossed paths on a hockey field in 2003.

A few days ago, some 15 years after they first met as juniors, the pair stood at a distance from the rest of their Australian Hockeyroo teammates, practising short corners.

“Short corners are a specific role we have to train that takes us away from the rest of the team,” Fitzpatrick (pictured) said.

“We had just been told we were both going to the Games.

“It was the first time we were able to look each other properly in the eye and let it all sink in.”

They will both represent Australia at the Commonwealth Games after the squad was announced last week.

“I think it’s pretty incredible that I’ve been playing with Savannah since we were kids. Now here we are, pushing out short corners together, practising for the Commonwealth Games,” Nance said.

“Both born on the Gold Coast, practically playing in our backyard. It’s a dream.

“As locals, having the opportunity to have your friends and family there, on our turf, it will be amazing.

“How could we ask for a better first experience at a Commonwealth Games?”

Then there’s the duo’s friend Dylan Wotherspoon, the Murwillumbah boy with his own incredible story.

At 23 years old, an age when sporting careers are often made or broken, Wotherspoon suffered a debilitating hamstring injury that derailed his bid for an Olympic berth at the 2016 Rio Games.

“When I did my hammy, and it kept on happening and happening, there were definitely times where I thought ‘that’s enough, this isn’t for me anymore’,” he recalled.