Hockey Australia announced its pickings for the 27-member squad on Saturday, December 16. Lachi, who had only just returned from the World League in India, was overjoyed to make the cut. He will be leaving Lithgow for Perth in January to train with the squad. 

“I found out I made the squad this morning, I’m pretty excited,” he told the Mercury on Saturday. 

“My parents are over the moon. My mum is upset that I am leaving, I don’t think she’ll let me walk out the door come January 14, but they’ve been wanting this too.”

Head coach of the Kookaburras Colin Batch said the team was selected with upcoming major tournaments in mind. 

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“We’ve selected a group that we want to see reach its potential for Tokyo,” he said. 

“We’ve selected a number of younger players that have come through our junior program. We want to give them an opportunity to grow over the 12-month period and see where they are at the end of the year.”

Of 20-year-old Lachi Sharp, Batch said he impressed at the World League. 

“It was a great introduction to play your first game at such a good tournament in India,” Batch said.

“He added a lot to our attacking opportunities and in the midfield.”

Lachi was selected with a week’s notice to go to the Hockey World League finals as an injury replacement. He had been training with the Kookaburras. 

“I was on a training scholarship with the Kookaburras just for the week in Perth. They had told me at the start of the week that depending on the fitness of the boys that I might be taken as a reserve to India,” Lachi said. 

Less than a week after Australia’s final against Argentina in India, Lachi has been included in the Kookaburras squad for 2018. After years of training, Lachi said he felt things were moving at an accelerated pace. 

“I think I developed late as a hockey player, at some points I felt like I had fallen away a bit,” he said.

“Then two years ago I took steps that have really helped me move forward. Just training twice a week and going to Sydney, it really helped my fitness and being on the stick that often seemed to make a difference.”

Now he is striving to make the teams the Kookaburras send to the Commonwealth Games and Hockey World Cup next year. 

“It looks promising now. They take around 18 or 20 and there is 27 in the squad, so I’ll be hoping for that.”

Lachi thanked Zig Zag Hockey Club and Ryde Hunters Hill District Hockey Club as well as his employer Centennial Coal. 

Whatever happens in the year ahead, Lithgow will be on the look out for Lachi Sharp’s rising star.