Former Hockeyroo Naomi Evans can not wait to sink her teeth into elite hockey again with the Canberra Chill.
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The 30-year-old is one of three former Hockeyroos, alongside Edwina Bone and Kalindi Commerford, named in the side.
She has been biding her time since COVID-19 struck, after stepping away from the national set up in 2018 and her last Chill season in 2019. This season will mark her return to high performance hockey.
"I'm really looking forward to playing some highly-competitive hockey again," she said.
"Obviously with COVID we had a couple of years off, and I think we did really well in the first season, so it's going to be good to test ourselves and see how we back up this season after a few years without it.
"It's also a great opportunity for the younger players to see what they can do in their hockey if they want to."
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Evans made the move back to Canberra 12 months ago from Perth, and has been playing in the local league with her old club St Patrick's this season.
But as she prepares for a semi-final showdown against Goulburn this weekend in clubland, she reflected on the impact of the Chill's return to the region.
"I remember people that weren't even necessarily hockey fans would come to the game, so it's awesome it's back," Evans said.
"And we've got a massive support base, because Canberra really gets around its local sport."
Three international imports join Evans on the Chill roster, with last season's MVP from Japan Shihori Oikawa, and New Zealand sisters Katie and Madison Doar.
The Doar's will not be the only sisters in the Chill's corner, as the Bone twins join the ranks on and off the field with Meredith Bone named co-coach with Paul Sureda.
In the men's side, the roster has a number of familiar names including Kookaburras' goalkeeper Andrew Charter and former Kookaburra Glenn Turner.
The Chill play their first home game against Melbourne on October 13 at the National Hockey Centre.
Canberra Chill squads
Women's: Catriona Bailey-Price, Edwina Bone, Kalindi Commerford, Mikayla Evans, Naomi Evans, Sophie Gaughan, Laura Gray, Asta Johnson, Stef Kindon, Isabelle Lovel, Olivia Martin, Mikaela Patterson, Emily Robson, Riley Smith, Sarah White, Lauren Yee, Shihori Oikawa, Katie Doar, Madison Doar.
Men's: Davis Atkin, Garry Baskhus, Sean Baker, Dylan Brick, Andrew Charter, Owen Chivers, Ben Craig, James Day, Hayden Dillon, Aiden Dooley, Anand Gupte, Jamie Hawke, Brenda Hill, Jeremy Hopkins, Jay Macdonald, Oscar Smart, Ben Staines, Jakes Staines, Connor Tuddenham, Glenn Turner
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Isobel Cootes
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
Sports reporter at The Canberra Times. A Novocastrian with a passion for football (or soccer as they call it in the capital) via The Examiner and The Port Lincoln Times.
