Dubbo hockey young gun James Robinson knows he learned a lot from recently competing at the Hockey Australian Boys 15 Championships.
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Robinson was part of one of the two NSW sides who played at the tournament, which was held in Newcastle from April 7-13.
Playing for the NSW Lions, Robinson was a key part of the side's success during the tournament and the St Johns College Dubbo student is still striving to get better.
"The tournament was good, the best was camp but because we spent about a week hanging out with our teammates and getting to know them," he said.
"It was good competition, the best was probably WA Gold because they had the best sportsmanship as well whereas QLD were a bit dirty."
Robinson and the NSW Lions finished second in their pool only behind QLD Maroon, who went on to win the competition as well as being undefeated.
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The NSW Lions side lost just the one game in their pool, which came against the QLD Maroon side, a team which conceded just four goals during the pool stage, while scoring a mammoth 31 goals in the space of five matches.
But Robinson said it was still a strong tournament for the NSW Lions and Stars teams, with the latter finishing seventh overall.
"It was especially since we had two even teams, we didn't have a top and bottom one," he said.
Robinson's side was fortunate enough to advance to the bronze medal match after their strong pool form, where they played QLD Gold.
In a tight affair, the game was tied 2-2 at the end of play forcing a shootout, unfortunately for NSW, they lost 2-1 in the shootout to finish fourth overall.
Just being confident in yourself, pre-scanning before you get the ball and mainly a lot of respect.
- James Robinson
Even though they may not have medalled, Robinson knows he can take away some good lessons from his own performances at the tournament.
"Just being confident in yourself, pre-scanning before you get the ball and mainly a lot of respect," he said.
While he lives and goes to school in Dubbo, Robinson plays his club hockey in Parkes, something which he believes has helped his development over the past few years.
"The competition in Parkes is actually really strong, their A-Grade men's is very strong," he said.
"I'm not too sure about their high school competition and their Premier League team is also very good."
Playing against adults on a regular basis often helps fast track the development of juniors and allows them to perform at a high level when they got away to aged carnivals such as Robinson has just down.
The hockey star echoes the same thoughts and believes playing Parkes against men has helped prepare him well for when he went away to the National Championships.
"It helps a lot, it just helps with confidence and it's a better competition which makes you better," he said.
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