HOCKEY talent seems to run in the family for the Conroys, who can now boast another name in representative hockey by the time the Australian under 13s girls’ titles arrive in October.
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Shane and Kristy Conroy are both Australian Country stars, while their brother Aaron is a premiership player with St Pat’s at Premier League level.
Now their cousin Sophie has started her elite journey after being selected for the NSW Blues team to play at the championships.
Like her St Pat’s clubmate Lachlan Martin, who was picked in the boys’ Blues team, Sophie made her way into the team via the NSW titles, where Bathurst finished mid-field, before being asked to attend a selection camp.
She was plucked from that camp and will now play at fullback for the Blues.
Her proud dad Chris Conroy had an obvious explanation as to why the family is thriving so much on the hockey field.
“Kristy, Shane and Aaron are my niece and nephews; it’s probably fair to say they got all their talent from me,” he joked.
“Sophie has been playing since she was five, always with St Pat’s, but as far as higher levels go this is a bit of a first for her. She has played for the district sides before, but getting this far is fairly new to her.
“Deep down I think she always wanted to get to this stage. Seeing Kristy and Shane playing for Australian Country is a pretty good motivator, I think, and has inspired her to aim pretty high.”
Despite her tender age, Sophie is playing second grade women’s hockey with Pat’s alongside a couple of her district team-mates and has been able to hold her own.
She has also had no trouble fitting in with her fellow squad members despite being new to that level.
“Initially, I think she was a bit nervous about it, especially the training camp they had, because she didn’t really know any of the other girls, but she loved it.
“They bonded pretty well and know each other now,” Chris Conroy said.
“Shane has also done a lot of work with her to try and help her, which she’s very grateful for. Now she wants to just get to the tournament, hold her own and do the best that she can.”
The girls’ under 13s championships will be staged in Brisbane – and like the boys in Adelaide, the girls will have the chance to watch their Australian Hockey League counterparts.
That’s because both the men’s and women’s AHL will be held in conjunction with the respective under 13s competitions.
