Ben Staines one of 19 athletes named in National Development Squad

The Goulburn local was one of 19 players included in the squad, who are "on the verge of breaking into the national senior program, with an eye to being selected for the Kookaburras at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, 2023 World Cup in India and Paris Olympics in 2024", according to a Hockey Australia statement.

All of the athletes selected took part in the inaugural Hockey One season, and will continue to train in their home training environment under the guidance of national program coaches.

Additionally, these players may be invited throughout the year to train with the senior Kookaburras squad in Perth and be involved in training and match environments.

"It was a good feeling [to be selected], I'm excited about it," Staines said.

"I was fairly surprised, I knew I played alright in Hockey One, but to be named in that list just proves that I played a bit better than I thought."

His selection, Staines said, simply proved that focusing on your own game pays off.

"[Hockey One is] a hard tournament to play in. There's a lot of good players around and the other states had a lot of big names," he said.

"It just proves if you play your game and worry about getting ready for each game and execute, then it doesn't matter what team you play in, they do notice you."

Staines is one of two Canberra Chill representatives to have been named in the squad, along with OCHC's James Day.

The opportunity to make a case for three of the biggest tournaments in the world is tantalising to Staines, but the 22-year-old knows he has a long way to go before he is ready.

"It's purely exciting," Staines said. "Going to one of those tournaments like the Commonwealth Games, or the Olympics, or the World Cup would be a dream come true.

"I'll get the chance to spend a lot of time with those [top-level] guys and the coaches, I'll take in as much as I can.

"Just playing with those sorts of players, it rubs off on you. If you're playing with better guys all the time, you're bound to get better."

He self-deprecatingly joked that his list of improvements is "about ten pages long", but the first and foremost of his priorities is strengthening his wiry frame.

"I don't think I'll ever stop trying to improve, but in the near future it's probably a lot to do with my physical strength," Staines said.

"There's a lot of big guys who are a lot stronger than I am. I'm in the right environment to improve that at ACT Academy of Sport in Canberra, who set up a gym program for me to improve myself.

"I've been traveling to Canberra most nights to make it happen, it's hard but it's doable."

Along with its impact on him personally, Staines hopes that his selection will be a positive for Goulburn hockey.

"It's good to have the young players coming through that I can pass [the knowledge] on to, it makes playing the game so much more enjoyable," he said.

"I know when I was that young, I used to look up to Glenn Turner. I've ended up playing with him for the last five or six years in the local comp, and he's been at that [international] level.

"I hope some of the young guys can have that feeling that I had back then. It's a good feeling when guys you look up to, you end up playing with them."

This is the second major honour for Staines in recent months, after he claimed Hockey ACT's Brophy Medal for the best male player in the Canberra competition.

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