HOCKEY
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The next player off the Illawarra production line of Australian hockey talent, Flynn Ogilvie, is chasing a dream selection in the junior World Cup team this year.
After capturing gold at last weekend's Australian Youth Olympic festival, the 19-year-old will be part of a squad which will travel to the Gold Coast for the Oceania qualifiers next month.
With New Zealand poised to be their biggest competition in a group where Australia's best under-21 players are expected to easily qualify for the junior World Cup, the hard part comes later in the year.
Ogilvy will then compete at the national championships, before the young Kookaburras-in-waiting battle it out as the squad is cut to 24 and then 18.
The midfielder is following in the footsteps of Olympian Kieran Govers and Champions Trophy winner Tristan White.
"I'd like to be there at the World Cup, but it's pretty even for selection in the [Australian] squad," he said.
"I just have to keep working at it and hopefully I'll be picked.
"It's been good having the other guys [Govers and White] around, you see how they play and try and keep up to those high standards."
Govers has been playing in the newly formed Hockey India League, after being sold at auction to the Punjab Warriors.
Albion Park juniors, Kieran's brothers Scott and Blake, are also touted as stars of the future, while Ogilvie has been a standout in the Illawarra event, winning the premiership with University last year.
Ogilvie had some nervous moments during the Australian Youth Olympic Festival final, where Australia led 3-0 against Great Britain, but trailed 4-3 in the final minutes, before recovering to win in extra-time.
"We had to lift, we got complacent after leading 3-0," he said.
"But it was pretty exciting to win, Australia had never lost there before, so it was good to keep the run going."
Australia have had a much more difficult time at the World Cup, last winning back in 1997.
Germany - the nation which denied Govers a shot at gold in London last year - have dominated the competition, with five titles.
The World Cup will be held in December.