Warrnambool hockey player Emily Lanman will travel to Singapore next weekend to represent Australia Country.
WARRNAMBOOL hockey player Emily Lanman will have to adjust to a different climate and unfamiliar teammates when she represents Australia Country.
Lanman has increased her training load in the past couple of months in preparation for a two-week trip to Singapore and Hong Kong.
The centre-half was selected in the Australia Country open women’s team in August last year after an impressive Australian Country Hockey Championships campaign in Bendigo.
Lanman will fly to Singapore on March 31 with her 15 teammates.
“Everyone is in different states. It will be the first time meeting most of them, but we’ve been communicating via email,” she said.
“I know the first couple of days is intense training.
“It will be interesting to acclimatise to the humidity and heat over there.
“I have been to Singapore on a similar trip but haven’t been to Hong Kong before.”
Lanman said Australia Country would play national teams from Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.
“We play nine games in total but a couple are training games against younger national teams,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to the experience of getting over there and playing teams of a lot higher calibre than I’m used to.”
Lanman was called up to a national squad in April 2011 but a back injury intervened and she was ruled out of a potential tour of New Zealand.
The Warrnambool and District Hockey Association player said she had worked hard to ensure she could grab her second chance.
“I have been training for three or four sessions a week in Warrnambool and doing a lot of strength work and running,” she said.
“It will be pretty tough. I think I will play a number of different positions because we haven’t played together before.
“We have a lot of midfield players and I am a midfielder myself, but I am looking forward to where they put me.”