Owen Chivers was faced with a choice.
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An elite cricket and hockey player as a junior in the Southern Highlands, he eventually reached an age where it was time to pick one sport to focus on.
Chivers, however, had other ideas.
"Why can't I do both?" he asked. And so he did.
Now, the 29-year-old spends his winters running around the region's hockey fields for Wests and his summers wielding a cricket bat for Ginninderra.
He wouldn't have it any other way.
"They're both such different sports," Chivers said. "I've always played them both and had a lot of enjoyment out of it. A lot of people have to pick one, I've been lucky enough to not play at a level high enough that it's been an issue.
"I've played enough cricket now that I can get by without a pre-season. They're two groups of mates that I'm pretty close with and I enjoy playing with."
While he generally does a good job juggling his hockey and cricket passions, there are some times when Chivers has to prioritise one over the other.
Cricket was elevated in 2014 when the batter turned out for the ACT Comets. More recently, hockey was Chivers' primary focus as he featured in his third season for the Canberra Chill.
The timing of the Hockey One League forced Chivers to miss the first seven weeks of the cricket season, however he kept a close eye on his teammates' progress.
"I've kept an eye on all the scores," he said. "Hockey is pretty much a full-time commitment [during the Hockey One season] with training almost every day.
"The nature of Hockey One means we're flying home and away throughout the season, so I'm unavailable for cricket most weekends."
Chivers returned in round eight, however the comeback didn't go exactly to plan. The batter was run out for three by a teammate in his first game back.
The batter hopes to find his stride in Saturday's clash against Western District, where Ginninderra will battle both the Lions and extreme heat in search of the victory.
The weather conditions could not be more different to last weekend, when all four of Saturday's one-day games were abandoned without a ball bowled.
While hockey and cricket both involve wooden sticks and a hard ball, that's where the similarities end.
"I struggle a little bit with my cricket swing after playing too much hockey," Chivers said. "There are different skill-sets but it's nice coming into the cricket season being fit. It's fair to say there's a higher level of fitness required in hockey so it's good I'm always fit but the actual skill-set is quite different.
Chivers is happy to continue juggling the two sports moving forward, however he acknowledged hockey has taken on greater importance in recent years.
The opportunity to travel the country to play in the Hockey One is too good to pass up, the Chill midfielder thriving in Australia's top league.
"Hockey Australia has done such an incredible job promoting a new league," Chivers said. "Playing in the [cricket] second XI competition is cool, but Hockey One games are incredible.
"We're able to travel around the country, games are televised, there's a high level of interest and the quality of hockey is high. It's awesome to be part of this league, it's so different to the old AHL, we now have big crowds and support around Canberra."
Cricket ACT Round 13
Ginninderra v Western District at Kippax
Eastlake v North Canberra Gungahlin at Kingston Oval
Queanbeyan v ANU at Freebody Oval
Tuggeranong v Weston Creek Molonglo at Chisholm Oval