Young Falcons set flight with sights set on international success
This week we bid farewell to several of our brightest Falcons prospects as they head across the globe seeking glory at the Junior World Cup. The tournament will offer these players the opportunity to represent Aotearoa at the highest level for age group hockey. The Women's tournament is being held in Santiago for the second time in succession, while the Men head to the Southern Indian region of Tamil Nadu. The U21 tournaments have been expanded to accommodate 24 teams respectively, meaning developing hockey nations such as Uruguay, who our U21 women face in their second group match, get a chance to showcase the abilities of their next generation.
The men's tournament which starts today, the 28th of November, sees three of our Falcons named in the squad. Javahn Jones, and Finlay Neale who have been involved in this year's senior PHL campaign, were part of the U21 side who played Australia in the qualification tournament earlier this year, picking up an impressive victory in game one. For Javahn Jones, who has already picked up 15 caps for the U21 National side, this will be his final opportunity at international age group success, after attending the Sultan of Johor tournament in Malaysia in 2024 and 2025. Jones has been an ever present in the Falcons lineup this season too, putting in some impressive performances.
Joe Hanks, former Falcon’s men's player and current head coach was a late addition to the coaching staff for the men's side, marking his first international call-up. He will support head coach Mike Delaney, who was the head coach of the Central Falcons men's side in the tournament's inaugural edition in 2020. We wish Joe and Mike all the best, as this is an incredible development opportunity for the coaching staff, as much as it is for the players.
The Women's Junior World Cup, which gets underway on the 2nd of December (NZT), will feature five of our women's PHL sides. For Riana Pho, it will be an extra special tournament, as she captains the side in what will be her second Junior World Cup. Pho, a Wellington Girls College alum, has already been capped 23 times by the Blacksticks senior team and has had an incredible start to this year's PHL season, scoring twice in three games. Joining her will be Hawkes Bay’s Greer and Hannah Findlay, who will join sister and former Falcons star Emma at their first U21 World Cup. Hannah Donald who has featured twice for the Falcons this campaign, and Goal Keeper Kate Fraser are also included and will aim to maintain some strong momentum from this year's PHL campaign.
The Men's tournament will wrap up on the 10th of December, so it will be a tight turn around to see if our Falcons lads will be able to suit up for the PHL finals weekend in Auckland on the 12th and 13th of December. The Women's tournament wraps up on the 14th of December, meaning our ladies will miss the remainder of the PHL campaign for 2025. We thank Riana, Greer, Hannah, Kate, and Hannah for their incredible efforts in the games played this season.
Best of luck to all Falcons players as they take on the world's best U21 players over the next couple of weeks!
Both tournaments can be watched live and on-demand on the Watch Hockey streaming platform with a tournament pass available for each respective tournament at a cost of $34.50. Tournaments can also be tracked for free on the official FIH Altius site.
Link to Watch Hockey: https://watch.hockey/home
Link to FIH Altius: https://tms.fih.ch/
Match Schedule for each team (NZT)
Men:
Group stage
Match 1 vs China, 28th November, 11pm
Match 2 vs Argentina, 30th November, 11pm
Match 3 vs Japan, 2nd December, 1:15am
Playoff schedule to follow
Women:
Group stage
Match 1 vs USA, 2nd December, 10am
Match 2 vs Uruguay, 4th December, 5:30am
Match 3 vs South Korea, 6th December, 5:30am
Playoff schedule to follow