Three athletes from the New England region will join the state’s best hockey players for the 2025 Hockey One season, kicking off October 10.
The NSW Pride have confirmed their final Men’s and Women’s squads with Lily Neilson, current Kookaburra Nathan Czinner and Australian under 18s Jack Marshall to take the field with current and former Australian representatives, as well as young rising stars and some international talent joining from overseas.
Headlining the Men’s squad is the return of former Kookaburra Kurt Lovett, who last played in the Hockey One league in 2019 when the NSW Pride Men won Gold.
The 29-year-old, originally from Parkes, has been playing recently in the UK with East Grinstead Hockey Club.
Joining him will be experienced Spanish international and Tokyo Olympian Albert Béltran. The 32- year-old forward from Catalonia is expected to form a powerful goal-scoring force with Lovett that can propel the Pride back into medal contention.
Seven current Hockeyroos will form the nucleus of the NSW Pride Women’s squad, with experienced trio Jocelyn Bartram, Grace Stewart, and Mariah Williams (combined 395 international caps for Australia) once again pulling on the NSW uniform to continue their streak of never missing a season of Hockey One.
New Zealand Indoor Hockey International Tegan Buchanan, and New Zealand A squad member Jenna-Rae McIntyre, will also bolster the Pride Women with some additional international fire- power as they seek to improve on their bronze medal finish in 2024.
The NSW Pride start their 2025 Hockey One season in Canberra, with a round 1 clash against the Canberra Chill, before hosting their first home matchday on 18 October at the Macarthur Hockey Complex against the Tassie Tigers.
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