Maylands hockey goalkeeper Aleisha Power.
Camera IconMaylands hockey goalkeeper Aleisha Power. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Hockey: Maylands’ Power keeping her eyes on 2020 prize

Kristie LimEastern Reporter

MAYLANDS hockey goalkeeper Aleisha Power has set her sights on cementing her place at state and national level with the aim of playing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Power made her WA Diamonds debut last year in the Australian Hockey League (AHL) in Sydney and is a member of the national junior squad.

The 19-year-old steered her team to a 4-3 win against the Women’s All Star Team in Wednesday’s All Star Series final, a lead-up event to the AHL to be held in Perth.

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Power, a Curtin Trinity Pirates player, said she hoped good performance in her second AHL campaign would consolidate her selection for the Junior World Cup.

“This year it is a bit different, I might have more of an opportunity to play so it is a bit more special and I feel a bit more a part of the Diamonds and WA senior hockey,” she said.

“I obviously would really like to play for the Hockeyroos and be a good goalkeeper known around the world but my small goal is I am hoping to go to the Junior World Cup at the end of the year.

“Obviously my performance in the AHL is pretty important.”

Power said she started playing hockey when she was six or seven years old and grew to love her position.

“I started on the field as a full-back and when you are at that age usually your team rotates and I got rotated through goalkeeper and the coaches said ‘you are actually good at it’, so I did not really have a choice,” she said

“I kind of learnt to enjoy it because you are a bit special (as a goalkeeper).”

The Hockeyroos had a “disappointing” tournament in Rio and Power said it was difficult to watch from home.

“The girls are really good and so are the guys; they are really talented and I was a little bit sad we could not really put a performance out there that really represented our hockey and how talented we are at it,” she said.

“I felt sad for them but also proud because the effort was there, it just did not come off.”

She said September’s AHL tournament would be more special than previous years.

“I think it is pretty good because I like watching men’s hockey, it is a different game to the women, the women’s is a bit more tactical and fitness whether as the men’s hockey is a lot of individual skills plus the tactics,” she said.

“It is going to be really exciting to see what other teams do internationally against our style of hockey and how our style compares internationally.”

The AHL competition starts on September 29.