Nathan Czinner, born and raised in Armidale, is currently training with the Kookaburras squad over in Perth in preparation for the upcoming Paris Olympics.
“I’ve been playing since I was eight. I always loved it, but it probably wasn’t until I made my first state team when I was twelve…where I thought “yeah, this is it for me.”
His journey, like many young hockey players in the New England, began on the astro-turf fields at SportUNE: the home of Hockey New England.
Hockey New England has a storied history as one of Australia’s hockey hot spots; back in 2018, over 60 players registered with Hockey New England represented at either state or national level.
Throughout his junior hockey playing career, Nathan found a deep level of satisfaction in pushing himself.
“At a junior level, seeing the elite players like the Kookaburras and the New South Wales state team was very intriguing for me. I wanted to be exactly like them.”
After consistent appearances in New South Wales state representative teams, Nathan would eventually join the New South Wales Pride in the Australian “Hockey One” national competition.
“It’s the best league in Australia. You can’t get any better quality in Australia than (Hockey One).”
Interestingly, Hockey One features a unique set of rules that differ from standard hockey regulation.
“There’s also a bit of a twist in the game where if you score a goal, you can also convert in a one-on-one with the goalie.”
“There can be really interesting results or high scoring games which is probably more entertaining for the crowd.”
Despite playing at the highest level domestically, Nathan says that hockey players are still starved of the pay that he thinks they deserve.
“You do get some money if you’re in the kookaburra squad, but it’s nothing amazing compared to other sports. It is highly encouraged to back yourself with a career outside of hockey.
“There’s fellas in the Australian team who work full time because there’s not enough to support them or their families.”
Nathan’s regular involvement in state representative hockey served as the springboard that would eventually launch him into a number of international appearances for both indoor and outdoor Aussie rep teams.
Earning a place in the u21 outdoor mens Australian world cup team, Nathan’s first hit-out in the Green and Gold saw him journey to Johor, Malaysia.
“It’s an honour to represent Australia. It’s honestly one of the best feelings…you’re not (just) doing it for yourself, you’re doing it for the people who love you as well.”
Nathan is currently training with the Kookaburras squad, sixteen of whom will be selected to play in the upcoming Paris Olympics commencing in late July.
“Some of the greats of the game like Eddie Ockenden are still going strong and playing at a high level, so you can’t just slide right in.”
Ockenden is a four-time Olympian and has three Olympic medals under his belt. He is also the most capped Kookaburra and the first Australian to reach 400 caps for the national team.
Nathan says that the expertise of players like Ockenden is what gives him the motivation to push himself.
“That’s what separates these great players. It’s the little things that they do that impact the game in such a big way.”
“Learning what it takes to play at this level is probably the biggest thing. Being in this environment now has motivated me ten times more to make the Australian team and go to the Olympics.”
“I couldn’t think of anything better to do honestly. That’s my big goal and I’m going to work as hard as I can to make it happen.”
The Olympic Games commence on the 26th of July and will run until the 11th of August.
The Hockey One League starts back up in October, and all of Nathan’s games can be watched live and free on 7+.
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