Playing religiously
U21 tour exposes players to cultural experiences, higher level of play
LISA Fatnowna had seen anything like it.
Halfway through a game for the under-21 Australian Country team on their tour of southeast Asian countries, a prayer started blaring through the speakers, bringing an abrupt pause to play.
“They did a huddle, prayed together, then we got back to playing,” Fatnowna said.
It was a new and eye-opening experience for the 19-yearold, a centre attacking midfielder for Stingers in the Cairns Hockey senior competition, who earned her place in a tour which took her to Malaysia and Borneo.
Fellow Cairns product Josh Fowler, who moved to Victoria in the past two years, was part of the men’s touring team.
While the temperature, humidity and playing surfaces are the easiest differences to identify, it was the cultural differences which stood out most to Fatnowna.
Mid-game prayers and facing players in full religious garb was different to what Fatnowna and her Wattles teammates were used to, but the onfield never quality was higher than what she was used to, as well.
It meant she was able to sharply develop her game during the tour, skills she will bring back to the local competition and hopefully boost her chances of securing a start in the open representative teams and Super League.
“I felt like I brought back the experience of playing against other countries,” she said. “Their game play was fast. They use the ball more than we do. We tend to get the ball then run with it, instead of passing it off which is easier.”
Former Souths player Fowler earned his spot at the national country championships last year, similar to Fatnowna, doing enough to get the nod for an opportunity of his lifetime.
“It was interesting, the different places you went, the lower socio-economic cities, it was still quite strong hockey and their sporting skills were really strong,” Fowler said.
“It was amazing what facilities they had for hockey.”
Fowler, who lives in Bendigo but plays for Yarra Valley Hockey Club in the Melbourne Premier League, featured in the Cairns Hockey pre-season on Friday night and played against some of our local representative hopefuls on a previous weekend.
The defender is back in Melbourne ready to rip in to another season in the southern state, and has his sights set on another representative run.
Fatnowna’s aim is to continue starring for Stingers in the local A-grade competition and earn selection for Cairns’ opens rep team when it returns to state competition.
From there, she’ll hope to catch the eye of state and national selectors and get in the frame for a start in either openage state teams or the Brisbane Blaze in Hockey One.