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Amy Lawton is among the young stars emerging as the next-generation of Hockeyroos on the brink of a new Olympic golden era.
And, off the field, the 21-year-old Hockey Club Melbourne star is setting up her own future in the unique field of prosthetics — creating artificial devices that function as replacements for missing body parts — lured by the opportunity to help improve people’s lives.
But, with a jam-packed work and hockey schedule, with the U23 Junior World Cup and then the Paris Olympics just around the corner, the young gun has had to prioritise her sport — for now.
Based full-time at Hockey Australia’s high performance unit in Perth, Lawton squeezes in theoretical studies around work and training but must be present at La Trobe University in Bundoora, Melbourne, for much of the practical component of her course — a near-3000km flight.
“I’m about halfway through the course but towards the end of it, it’s a lot of the hands on stuff, getting into clinics and getting into hospitals,” Lawton told Insight during a fly-in, fly-out visit to Melbourne to take on Brisbane Blaze in the Hockey One competition.
“I’ve currently categorised it as a post-Olympic Games problem, because I just can’t be in Melbourne to do it.
“I like how I can build relationships with people and help them on their journey to find a prosthetic that is right for them.
“When you work in a clinic, you see them every month or so when they get a new limb or a new hand or whatever it is they need. You get to build that relationship over many years and learn to listen to them and figure out what is going to give them the best result.”
Next on her agenda is November 29’s Junior World Cup in Chile, where she will looked to as a leader, along with six other players with senior Hockeyroos’ experience.
Born in England to Zimbabwean parents, Lawton grew up in picturesque Emerald in Melbourne’s Dandenong Ranges.
Aged 19 during the Tokyo Games, she became the fourth-youngest player to represent the Hockeyroos at an Olympics and is already a Commonwealth Games silver medallist (2022) and owns an FIH World Cup bronze.
But she wants the gold in Paris. The squad is yet to be announced for next year’s Olympics — and Lawton refuses to count her chickens — but the bullocking attacking star with pace to burn is already developing into one of the finest players in the world and looms as a key in the Hockeyroos’ medal hopes.
“I definitely feel like I’ve found my place in the team a bit more now and feel that in training when the girls give me confidence and trust,” she said.
“But you never know with Olympic selection, you can’t predict it because there are so many talented players in the Australian system.”
Lawton is a huge fan of the growing Hockey One competition, where she competes alongside younger sister Josie for HCM.
“It’s always fun to play against some of the girls you train with every day and it is so important because, (Hockeyroos coach Katrina) Trinny (Powell) and selectors fly to watch so it’s a big part of selection for the national team.
“It’s become more exciting and more and more people are coming to watch and looking for it on the TV.”
JILLAROOS’ U23 FIH JUNIOR WORLD CUP SQUAD
Chile, 2023
Jordan Bliss, QLD
Maddison Brooks, TAS
Claire Colwill, QLD
Hannah Cullum-Sanders, QLD
Emily Hamilton-Smith, VIC
Makayla Jones, NSW
Alana Kavanagh, NSW
Madeline Kenny, QLD
Bridget Laurance, VIC
Amy Lawton, VIC
Josie Lawton, VIC
Lily Neilson, NSW
Jade Reid, QLD
Katie Sharkey, SA
Lucy Sharman, SA
Tatum Stewart, QLD
Karissa Van der Wath, QLD
Grace Young, NSW
Originally published as Insight: Rising Hockeyroos star details unique off-field study in prosthetics, road to Paris Olympics
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