Bailey Morrison is starting to know his way around the world - mainly because he knows his way around a futsal court.
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The 12 year old is set to go on a third Australian futsal tour later this year, after being named alongside two other players from the Hunter to visit Catalonia, in the north-east of Spain.
Morrison, who plays for Lambton Jaffas on the football field and at Howzat indoor sports facility in Cooks Hill for the five-a-side version of the roundball code, was part of winning Australian sides during his two previous international tours.
The first was in Hawaii, where he faced players more than a few years above his age. The second was in Malaysia, where the quality of competition was far superior.
So Morrison, from Fletcher, is well placed to offer advice to Cessnock's Noah Stevens and Medowie's Jack Jones about what to expect on this year's tour.
"We'll hang out and talk to each other and I'll calm them down and tell them what to do," he said. "It will be really good with those boys there.
"We've already got a really good chemistry, us three."
The Hunter trio will face a host of Catalonia representative sides during the 14-day tour after arriving in Barcelona in late October.
Touring sides traditionally bring their own coaches, but for this tour the side will link up with a Spanish coach. It will be a handy addition from the futsal-loving country.
Hockey reps dig deep at nationals
Newcastle hockey player Ryan Woolnough picked up a silver medal at the under-15 Australian boys outdoor hockey championships in Narellan recently.
Woolnough's side did not lose a match in the pool-stage of the week-long tournament, but had a 1-1 draw with Western Australia.
It was the WA side who they then faced in the final but went down 2-1 in what was a tight contest.
Fellow Newcastle representatives Edward Hunt and Lukas Gremm were part of the NSW seconds team which finished 10th overall.
The under-15 girls championships were held concurrently at Narellan and Newcastle rep Grace Baxter was part of the NSW seconds side that finished fifth.
State's best athletes on show
More than 1200 of the State's best young athletes were on show when the Hunter Academy of Sport hosted the Your Local Club Academy Games recently.
The three-day event, which was held in the Hunter for a second year, brought athletes, staff, families and supporters from all 11 Regional Academies of Sport (RAS) in NSW to the region.
The games included basketball, golf, hockey, netball, softball, triathlon, AFL and tennis.
Para-sport matches were also held and featured wheelchair basketball and para-futsal athletes.
