Kookaburras Olympics hopeful James day knows the dreaded Red Eye flight out of Perth all too well.
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It's the only way the Old Canberran junior could pursue his hockey career in WA while still representing the Chill in the Australia's top domestic league.
Last season he racked up roughly 30 hours of flight time in about a month, playing a key role at the back in the Chill's Hockey One campaign.
The endless logistical nightmare has paid dividends - Day has been selected as one of 27 athletes to participate in a 10-day super camp in Perth, from which a 16-man squad will be picked for next year's postponed Tokyo Games.
"Being selected into it it's kind of nice to know the move was worthwhile, leaving everything back in Canberra," Day said.
"It's nice knowing I've been recognised and I've been playing quite well here so hopefully it goes my way."
Day moved to Perth back in 2018, following in the footsteps of so many Kookaburras and Hockeyroos over the years who headed west to be closer to the sport's High Performance Unit.
He has since finished an apprenticeship as a plumber, and taken a job fixing coffee machines across the city.
But it meant unsociable trips on the Red Eye back to Canberra to maintain his Chill commitments.
"That's what I was on - leave here at midnight, get to Canberra at 7am in the morning," Day said.
"I'm a bit lucky I can sleep on planes and most of the flights were pretty empty. I was pretty much fly in, fly out on the weekends, I think there was nine or 10 flights in nearly a month, just back and forth."
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The Chill's first two matches were in Canberra last season. Day then flew back to Perth before matches in Mebourne, Canberra again, and Adelaide.
Day will play in four intra-squad matches as part of the camp, hopeful of securing his Kookaburras spot.
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
