By Shelby Brooks
Taking a chance on an advertisement in a primary school newsletter led Emerald’s Amy Lawton to wear the green and gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
Amy’s parents spotted a notice in their daughter’s Upper Beaconsfield Primary School’s newsletter advertising the Berwick-based field hockey club The Casey Cannons.
Amy, who moved to Australia from the UK when she was seven, said her parents decided she could give it a try.
“I was eight the first time I picked up a hockey stick and gave it a go,” the now Hockeyroo said.
“I went there and started and obviously really liked it.”
She played in the under 10s for a year with Casey before it was suggested she transfer to a junior development program in Moorabbin.
Trying a range of sporting activities, Amy soon realised she was excelling at hockey the most.
“I was not one of the strongest players at all, I wasn’t just a natural talent at it as such either,” she said.
“I just remember being that little striker that ran around and didn’t really do that much except run a lot.
“I remember at one stage I guess I was having a discussion with my parents about my hockey, and they said if you want to actually do it [professionally] you could, you just need to try and work a bit harder.”
So, Amy started performing 100 ball movements a day, dragging the ball left to right over and over again improving her touch and basic skills.
“Slowly my touch got better and I got better at doing different elimination skills and now that is probably one of my strengths,” Amy said.
Balancing Year 12 at Haileybury College in Berwick with making her national debut meant Amy missed over a term’s worth of face to face learning in 2019.
A lot of time was spent studying in the car between tournaments and training.
“Haileybury and the Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) were very accommodating,” Amy said.
Now 19, Amy is the youngest player on the Hockeyroos.
The postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was a blessing for Amy who was only new to the Hockeyroos at that stage.
“Before Covid postponed the Olympics, I knew I was on the brink of selection but it gave me an extra opportunity to try and sharpen up on different things to put myself in the best position for selection this year,” Amy said.
“Opening the email and seeing my name on the list was a huge relief and so exciting to be going to pinnacle of our event but at the same time I felt so hurt for all the girls in our squad who didn’t make that list.”
Being selected for the Olympic side meant Amy, along with her fellow teammates, did extensive heat training in Darwin to prepare them for the humid Japanese summer in what is traditionally a winter sport.
Once in Japan, the Olympic Village was a highlight for Amy.
“It was just so crazy,” she said.
“You walk past so many athletes- you might not know who they are or what sport they are doing but you know they are elite at it.
“It was a really cool feeling that the best athletes in the world are all living in this little village and seeing some of the Aussie legends like Sam Kerr and Ash Barty was awesome.”
Despite the Hockeyroos having a roaring start by winning all five of their round matches, the first time in Olympic history for the Aussie girls, the team suffered a surprising and devastating loss against India in the finals.
“Us being knocked out of the quarter finals was quite a shock because we felt so confident and proud of what we had achieved in the round games,” Amy said.
“It was a weird feeling in the fact that once they scored their one goal which was quite early on in the game, I wasn’t feeling worried or stressed that they had scored because I had so much trust in my team that we would come back from that.
“So when the game finished we were all like ‘no there’s more, it can’t finish like this’ because we set ourselves up in such good stead in the lead up it was more like ‘this can’t be the end’.
“As much as it was devastating, I never felt more connected to my team and to our staff and everyone within the Hockeyroos program until I was in that change room with everyone at the end.”
Amy returned to Perth where she is based while playing for the Hockeyroos and has set her sights on next year’s Commonwealth Games and World Championships.
She also is studying a Bachelor of Prosthetics and Orthotics at La Trobe University, inspired by her love of the Paralympics, which keeps her busy.
“I think this is the start of a new era for the Hockeyroos and we know this is such a great start for us as a program and we’re also starting fresh with a new coach,” Amy said.
“Hopefully the rest of Australia saw that we have improved and that this is the start of something awesome as a group.
“The time in quarantine [after the Olympics] allowed for reflection individually. Hopefully I can have another couple of Olympics in me.”
