Hockey New England will have it's biggest-ever representation at the upcoming Australian Indoor Hockey Festival in Wollongong following a stellar showing from the association's various sides at their respective state championships.
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Eighteen HNE players will suit up for NSW throughout the 23-day tournament, which gets underway on January 4.
Charlotte Portell (Lions), Tom Ball (Stars), Archie Clarke (Stars), Elliot Clarke (Lions) and Lennox Neilson (Lions) will represent in the under-13s, Tyler McCann (State) and Pip Constable (State) the under-15s, Nathan Czinner (State), Jake McCann (State), Brad Smith (State), Liam Smith (Blues), Rohan Lawrence (Blues), Meg Lye (State), Lily Neilson (State), Maible Chalmers (Blues) and Chelsea Thornton (Blues) the under-18s, and Darby Chalmers, Jake McCann, Hayden Shawyer, Cody McCann and Thornton the under-21s Blues.
Hayley Lennon has also been selected to umpire at the under-18 nationals.
HNE indoor convenor Paul Eichorn said it was a great result for the association and attributed the success to a strong focus on indoor through the local competition.
"The local competition has grown to accommodate some 60 teams, both senior and junior, and is represented by most of the primary schools in Armidale," he said.
"We're not focusing on existing hockey players. We night have between 80 and 100 players that don't play outdoor hockey."
"It's turning into a production line. It's not a side board stuck onto the outdoor season."
"They are just an outstanding side and have been for years," Eichorn said.
The 13s boys were another great story, he said.
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After winning their relegation game the previous year to stay in Division 1, they ended up being dropped to Division 2 because the two sides playing for promotion drew.
But then one of the sides didn't want to go up so they asked New England did they want to go up in their place.
They ended up finishing third and had four players selected in the NSW sides, one of whom is only 11-years old.
Archie Clarke is set to join older brother Elliot in state colours, in what will be his second national championships in the space of 12 months after being selected in the NSW PSSA outdoor side.
"Archie is a bit of a talent," Eichorn said.
He is tipping big things from the 13s boys over the coming years, likening them to the all-conquering 18s boys.
In other results the 13s girls maintained their spot in Division while the 18s girls finished fifth in Division 1. The under-15 girls "had a bit of a horror run" but the boys earned promotion back into the top division after finishing runners-up in Division 2.
The open men were also runners-up in Division 2, while the open women kept their place in the top division.
The national championships will commence with the open division from January 4-7, followed by the under-21s from January 9-12, under-18s from January 13-16, Under-13s from January 18-21 and finish with the under-15s from January 22-26.
