"It's very exciting!" she said.

In January Leard attended the Australian Hockey indoor championships in Wollongong where she played for NSW.

From this tournament she was selected as part of a 25 person squad to attend a three day camp in August where officials will then select the final World Cup team to compete in the 2021 indoor hockey World Cup.

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Leard has never been part of a World Cup team but would love to make the side, as the World Cup happens only once every three years.

"I've never been part of a World Cup Team but I toured the US in 2017 with the Australian women's development indoor hockey team," she said.

"It would mean a lot [to make the World Cup team], it's the highest level of indoor hockey you can make in Australia."

But getting to the highest level, takes commitment and hard work. Something Leard is willing to put in.

"Training has been going good, and now indoor season is over it is about just maintaining my fitness and getting ready for the outdoor hockey season," she said.

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Leard had a stellar 2019 season and hopes to be able to continue that into 2020.

"I had a good 2019 season, I travelled to Austria with the Australian women's indoor hockey team, where we played in the Vienna indoor classic and won, we also played a trial match against the Austrian national team and came away with a three to one win," she said.

"I also represented Nepean at the State Championships which we won. I then gained selection in the NSW team where we came away with a bronze medal at the Australian Nationals."

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In the lead up to the Australian Nationals, Leard trained a lot with her NSW team.

"Playing in an indoor competition is hard though, with the closest competitions being in Sydney," she said.

Leard said despite Lithgow not having an indoor competition or teams that compete in State Championships she will continue to play with the Lithgow Panthers in the outdoor Western Premier League competition as a striker.

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