Parkes hockey junior Kurt Lovett has experienced the biggest thrill of his career so far.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 22-year-old last week was announced in the 27-man Kookaburras squad for next year which includes the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The final squad for the Olympics won't be announced until June. In the meantime, he'll be pressing for a debut appearance during the 2020 FIH Pro League beginning during January.
The Pro League pits together the 10 best hockey nations.
Lovett is required to move to Perth to enter camp and begins training in early January.
The former Red Bend school captain described the moment he received the news.
"I found out last Wednesday, I actually missed the first call from the coach. My parents were in London so they were asleep at the time. So I was just on my own and had a bit of a cry, it was really exciting. I told my parents that night when they'd woken up over there," he said.
Lovett moved to Sydney to pursue hockey in 2015. He linked with University of NSW and was selected in the NSW Pride team which won this year's inaugural men's Hockey One competition, the new Australian Hockey League.
Lovett scored a number of goals during an impressive campaign.
"I'm assuming they've selected me as a striker, I scored a fair few goals for NSW Pride. I'll get over [to Perth] and train hard and keep scoring goals. It's still going to be tough, it's a 27-man squad," he said.
Lovett is one of a number of players to represent Australia after graduating from Parkes' junior system.
He featured on the Today show on Tuesday morning with women's national player and Parkes junior Mariah Williams.
"I'm still super close with the hockey community at Parkes, they've always supported me and I do like to get back when I can to help out, it can be a bit hard. I was actually on the Today show this morning [Tuesday] with Mariah Williams. It was pretty funny, we were both in our Aussie uniforms and we're both from Parkes," he said
His focus is on debuting during the Pro League and making the Olympic squad.
"That's what I want, I want a gold medal hanging on my wall," he said.
READ ALSO: Western Women's Rugby League carnival
READ ALSO: Railway Hotel best in casual dining
