FINAL COUNTDOWN
The Gold Coast Commonwealth Games kick off in less than six months and students Imogen Schmahl and Owen Pithers can’t wait.
HUNDREDS of Gold Coast students have come together with local athletes to celebrate six months until the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Hockey player Rosie Malone said the Games were leaving behind an “amazing legacy”.
“The kids are very lucky, the Games is leaving behind amazing facilities,” she said.
“Having the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast is something I’ll definitely be striving for. It won’t be very easy now but being in this Hockeyroos development squad, I’m one step closer.”
Ms Malone said she had played hockey on the Gold Coast since she was a child.
“It’s very exciting to have the Games right on your doorstep and somewhere I’ve played since I was a six-year-old, it’s super exciting,” she said.
”The pitch at Runway Bay is the exact same as they had at the London Olympics, it’s an international standard pitch so it’s fantastic to get out there.
“When you first get onto a hockey pitch it always feels a little different but when you’re used to it, it feels amazing.
“All the little kids are excited. All the parents and other players were saying to the kids ‘you know you’re playing on the field that all the international athletes will be playing on including the Hockeyroos and the Kookaburras. You guys are the first ones to play on it’. They got so excited.”