HOCKEY. The game dominates 13-year-old Lil Williams's life.
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Lil can play up to five games a week, with Camden Haven in the Hastings under 13 and 16 competitions or with Chatham in the Manning under 13s, 15s or women's division one or two.
She plays two games on the Hastings on Thursdays and the rest at the Manning Hockey Centre in Taree on Saturday.
It's an exhausting schedule, but Lil's in no hurry to slow things down.
"I love it,'' she smiles.
"I'll play as often as I can.''
Lil will be heading to Hobart with the NSW under 13 girl's team to play in the Australian championships in September/October.
She is the Manning River Times-Iguana Sportstar of the Week, earning a $50 open order at Iguana.
The selection process started when Lil was named in the Hastings team to play in division two of the State championships in Parkes. Hastings went through the tournament unbeaten but didn't get a berth in the final.
"We had a draw with Parkes in the semi-final,'' Lil explained.
"And because they scored more goals than us they went through to the final. That was a bit disappointing.''
Parkes then went on to win the championship.
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Lil was then named in a 60 strong train-on squad to play trials at Port Macquarie. This was eventually whittled down to the players named in the two NSW sides.
Lil thought she was a reasonable shot at making trials after her efforts at Parkes.
"I thought I played pretty well - I was happy,'' she said.
Lil didn't get as much game time as she would have liked while she trialed in a number of positions at Port, but the selectors had obviously seen enough of her to name her in the team. The team will have a training run soon at Moorebank before attending a two day camp just before leaving for Hobart. Lil can't wait to get on the plane.
"I'm pretty excited,'' she smiled.
A further incentive will be the possibility of gaining a berth in the State under 15 train-on squad for next year. There's eight places available and they'll go to the best performing players at Hobart.
Field hockey will give way to its indoor cousin when Lil gets back from Hobart. She'll be off to the State championship in Orange in November with Hastings. She attracted the attention of selectors last year even though the indoor rules were completely foreign to her.
Touch football is her other sporting passion. Lil has represented Taree at State Junior Cup and Northern Eagles Junior Championship level. However, she's never had the opportunity to press for selection in Northern Eagles representative sides because of a clash with hockey commitments.
"Hockey comes first,'' she said.