By HARRY CLARKE
MILES polocrosse prodigy Lindsey Doolan is already making her mark at the sport’s super competitive top end but there’s still more the 24-year-old hopes to achieve, and all will be on the line over the next 14 months.
In a fortnight’s time Doolan will saddle up as the youngest member of Australia’s open women’s team taking on the “Rest of the World” team at a polocrosse mega carnival held in Warwick.
National women’s and men’s teams will play against the six best players from England, Ireland, New Zealand, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and USA at Warwick’s combined Adina Test Series, Barastoc Interstate Series and Shell Cup carnival running from May 5 – 7.
Warwick’s iconic polocrosse ground, Morgan Park, will host hundreds of players and horses, and dozens of teams from across Australia and around the world for one of the sport’s biggest annual events.
After the Warwick carnival Doolan hopes to be selected in Australia’s open mixed team travelling to South Africa for the 2024 Polocrosse World Cup being held in June.
“There are usually seven ladies in the team but that gets cut back to four for the open mixed team for the World Cup,” Doolan said.
“My highlight so far was when Queensland won nationals in Perth in 2018. We were the first Queensland ladies team to win a national title.
“It’s always an honour to represent your state and your country and it’s good to get the opportunity to play overseas. The ultimate dream is to be selected for the Australian World Cup team and then to actually win the World Cup for Australia.”
Doolan is the younger sister of experienced Queensland women’s captain Sydnee Johnson. The pair grew up in Coffs Harbour and played polocrosse from a young.
Their parents, Jayne and Tony Doolan, remain at the family cattle property on the NSW North Coast but the Doolan sisters both now live and play polocrosse on Queensland’s Western Downs.
Doolan and partner Aaron Mullins live in Miles and play for the Chinchilla Polocrosse Club. Mullins will make his debut in the Queensland open men’s team at Warwick.
“We’ve got a pretty big club in Chinchilla and we run a good carnival. We’ve got lots of people to help, and it’s fun because Aaron and I get to play in the same team,” Doolan said.
“We ride every afternoon and we’re always working on horsemanship, getting the horses fitter and improving our racquet skills. Aaron I will throw the ball around once we’ve worked the horses.
“I like the horse side of things – breeding horses, breaking them in, training them and getting them going. It’s really satisfying getting your own horses going well. That’s my favourite part of it.
Members of the Chinchilla Polocrosse Club are looking forward to hosting the Polocrosse National Titles in May 2024 before the national team travels to South Africa for the World Cup.
WATCH: Country Caller coverage of the 2022 Warwick polocrosse carnival
