Burnie Twins Connor and William Stirling

Burnie Twins Connor and William Stirling prepare for the National Under 16 Hockey Championships in Hobart

By Adam Clifford

Burnie twins Connor and William Stirling are looking to harness the Jack Jumpers motto to ‘Defend the Island’ as they prepare for the National Under 16 hockey championships to commence in Hobart today.

The Year 10 students at Burnie High School will form part of a strong contingent of North-West players that claimed the inaugural Under 16 State Championship title recently and are looking to excel on the national stage.

After being involved at Under 13 and U15 level, the pair hope this year’s side can build on the age group’s best finish of eighth place in 2022.

“Those other Tasmanian teams had a strong contingent from the North and North-West regions, which carries over to provide a strong and consistent group for this year’s tournament,” William said.

“The North-West has a long history of producing talented players, and we would love to play in the Premier League club competition in Hobart one day,” Connor added.

The twins father James, also the Team Manager, can fondly recall the boys returning from their first Hook into Hockey game and being unable to put their sticks away, hitting hockey ball around the lounge room and hallway constantly.

“They’ve since grown to playing in the Greater Northern League with South Burnie and playing against adults has given them confidence and skills to help them stand their ground in this age group,” James said.

The Tasmanian Hockey Centre will play host to twelve boy’s and twelve girls’ teams from April 4-11, with twins hoping for a home ground advantage over their mainland rivals.

“We have the home ground advantage and our coaches have prepared us to be ready for our opponents to come at us hard, because we want to ‘Defend the Island’ just like the Jack Jumpers did,” Connor added.

Tasmania’s girls’ team will take the pitch against Queensland at 9am, before the boy’s face Western Australia at 12:30pm.

Thankyou to The Mercury and Adam Clifford for the assistance with this article.