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INTERVIEW WITH HOCKEYROOS STAR
ANNA FLANAGAN
Touchline – Why did you take up
the sport?
Anna Flanagan -
It was a family
affair, I played in my sister’s team,
my dad coached, Mum came along
to support. I’ve always been really
involved in sport, and so has the family,
so I guess that’s where it always came
from.
I played a lot of sports. I did little
athletics, played tennis, and I think
that was really important, while I was
growing up. Then when I hit high school
I had to choose one. I always knew that
sport was what I really wanted to do,
and to become successful, so I chose
hockey, and it went from there!
You are studying journalism.
How do you balance your
studies with your hockey?
Definitely very good time management.
This 6 months I’m not studying as we’re
all on full time training, but apart from an
Olympic year, most of us are studying
or have a job. It is a bit of a balancing
act, but I find it really important to
have something else other than just
hockey. I really enjoy studying so far
and enjoy what I’m doing. I’ve got one
more year to go in my degree which is
pretty exciting, but definitely good time
management.
What’s the highlight of your
hockey career so far?
It would be the Commonwealth Games
in Delhi when we won the medal. I was
a late call up into the team, I was just
18, and I got a call from the coach that
there had been an injury. So off I went
and we won gold! It was an AMAZING
experience, a big highlight!
Was it your first trip overseas
with the team?
I’d done a couple, but I had made my
debut that year, so it was always sort
of a dream and it came so quickly.
A highlight would be the Village
experience, and meeting all the other
athletes from the other sports. I think
I was walking around star-struck the
whole time! The whole experience was
amazing.
There was a bit of controversy
beforehand that theywere so far
behind in getting the facilities
together. Did you find that the
facilities were OK?
Yes, I did. You could definitely see that
they were still trying to get things fixed
up when we got there, but in the end
it all worked out and I think it added to
the experience; what the Village was
like, and you could tell how much effort
had gone into it, and what they did for
us. The people were lovely. I guess
there was a lot going on with people
threatening to leave the Village, and all
that, but it never crossed my mind. It
was an amazing opportunity!
What do you think the teams
chances are for gold in the
Olympics?
I think when we play well we can beat
anyone. We’ve beaten all the teams
ahead of us, but we will have to be
playing our best hockey for us to win
in London.
At 20, Anna Flanagan is an up and coming star of the Australian women’s hockey team – the
Hockeyroos. She is a defender and one of the Olympic squad for London. Touchline asked
her about her career so far.
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