Sister act is reunited

A RELIEVED Savannah Fitzpatrick says it’s great to be back in the Australian women’s hockey squad.

The Tweed Coast star will rejoin her sister Madison and Gold Coaster Rosie Malone in a 27-member Hockeyroos team that has been selected with the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in mind.

“I’m over the moon,” said the 23-year-old Savannah Fitzpatrick, who admitted the lead-up had been stressful.

“It was a bit of a different process this year. Normally you find out by email but it was a phone call this year.

“I live with my sister and another girl on the team and all our phone calls came within 30 seconds of each other.

“It was a relief more than anything.”

Fitzpatrick is looking forward to being back playing with her sister Madison, 21.

“We had an interesting year, only playing together for the first time a couple of months ago,” she said.

“I’m excited to be training again with her in Perth in the lead-up to the Olympics.”

The Australian selection panel considered several priorities for selecting the squad, with a long-term view to winning the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

The panel also looked to reward impressive performances within the daily training environment and national and international matches throughout 2018.

Coach Paul Gaudoin said Tokyo was the clear focus for the squad.

“We’ve selected the 2019 squad with a good eye on Tokyo and have identified the key skills we believe necessary to enable success,” he said.

“It’s been a tough process. There’s a lot of good players who’ve missed out but we want to give some opportunities to people who’ve been performing well in our national level, internationally or in their domestic environment.”

The Hockeyroos will play their first game for 2019 against world No.1 Netherlands in the Pro League in Melbourne in February.