Dunsborough hockey prodigy Cooper Bidesi represents WA in National Hockey Championships

A rising Dunsborough hockey star has taken to the national stage as one of three regional young guns named in the under-13s WA side.

Twelve-year-old Cooper Bidesi spent a week in Hobart last month facing some of the country’s toughest competition in the National Hockey Championships.

Bidesi’s Lightning side returning with a silver medal while ally team Storm followed up with bronze — WA’s most successful result in the past decade.

The up-and-comer said the tournament was a great chance to develop his skills and technique.

“I learnt so much about the strategies of playing hockey, the coaching and development along the way, it was so great,” he said.

“The level of commitment to the team and training was very high and intensive. . . but I love the challenge of playing, learning new skills and making friends throughout WA.”

Cooper said the gruelling schedule he needed to stick to in order to get to training in Perth meant waking up at 4am every weekend for the past two months.

But after bringing home the silver, he said it was “well worth the effort”.

“It was very exciting to get selected in the State team as there are a lot of really good players in WA,” he said.

“Being a country player it’s a lot harder to get selected as the coaches and development team in Perth don’t get to see you play each week. There were three rounds of trials so to make it through all those rounds was so good.”

In thanking the City of Busselton for helping with his travel costs, Cooper said he hoped to play for the national side one day, and encouraged other young athletes to follow their passion.

“Keep training in any sport that you love and if you keep persisting and learning from lots of different coaches you will eventually get recognised,” he said.