The three young men traveled across England, Belgium, and France as part of the Wanderers Australia hockey tour, in a trip that combined tourism with high-level hockey. 

Wanderers Australia is a group which “is committed to providing people who are passionate about sport and travel the opportunity to be a part of an international tour”, according to its website. 

“You have to meet some representative criteria [to have a chance of going on tour],” president of the Crookwell Indoor Hockey Sub-Committee Meghan McGregor said.

“You don’t have to have gone to nationals, but it’s probably a preference.” 

The criteria is in place because the trip consisted of not only a sightseeing, but roughly ten matches against high-level teams in each country they visited. 

The men’s team, which the Crookwell boys were a part of, proved to be in excellent touch throughout the three-week trip, and only lost one game while in Europe. 

“It’s actually been the most successful tour that the Wanderers have taken overseas,” McGregor said. 

Along with providing the boys crucial hockey experience, the tour resulted in opportunities, particularly for Jacob, who received offers from two clubs in England and one in Holland to return and play for them. 

“It opens up opportunities for kids in sport that I don’t think we’ve actually seen before,” McGregor said. 

It was also a great opportunity for the children to learn about the different cultures which are spread across Europe. Instead of staying in hotels, the boys stayed with host families, with whom the kids stayed for the duration of their trip to each country.

This gave them the opportunity to get a genuine cultural taste of each of the countries they visited, something which McGregor said was “one of the best things that the Wanderers do”. 

The trip lasted for three weeks, with the kids departing on New Years’ Eve and returning on Saturday, January 19.