MELVILLE’s women’s hockey team will take on some of Japan’s best national players in a “tough” exhibition match this weekend. 

The Melville team will take on the Hiroshima-based Coca Cola Red Sparks, six of whom also play in Japan’s women’s national team.

Melville City Hockey Club secretary Janine Tate says the match will be a “tough ask” for the Melville squad, given the Sparks’ level. 

• Melville hockey player Scarlett Huston and her teammates will have to be at the top of their game when they take on the Coca Cola Red Sparks (below), whose members make up almost half of Japan’s national squad.

“It’s certainly going to be a great experience for our girls, given some of them are quite young to be playing at this level,” Ms Tate said. 

“It’ll be good to test ourselves against one of the best teams going around, so we’re very excited to be able to host them.”

But Melville has a secret weapon in Yuu Asai, a 120-game veteran of Japan’s national team and an Olympic representative who is also the former captain of the Sparks. 

It’s relatively common for Japanese players to transfer to Australian clubs once they’ve retired, according to Club president David Timmel, which is why the exhibition match will be so important for international hockey engagement. 

“WA has got a strong Asian engagement program, and this is just another way that we as a large hockey club can support that engagement,” Mr Timmel said.  

The match is at Melville Toyota Stadium in Kardinya, Sunday, July 13, at 2.30pm.

by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER