Australia's men's and women's hockey teams will be at the Rio Olympics.
The Kookabuarras and the Hockeyroos have remarkable records at the international level, both the men's and women's hockey team have been Gold Medalists at:
Olympic Games
World Cups
Champion's Trophies
These big three tournaments
These big three international tournaments illustrates the pinnacle of world hockey and all three have rich and fertile histories.
The Champions Trophies is an annual international event of top hockey nations and it's a privilege and battle to make the grade. Australia's Kookaburras only three weeks ago in London won the 2016 tournament. The women were hapless and finished outside the top teams.
The World Cup and the Olympics are held every four years, but are two years apart. Both the Kookaburras and the Hockeyroos have been victorious in both.
Rio
The Kookaburras in their win at the recent Champions Trophy in London beating India for the Gold Cup illustrates this perennial nation of hockey lovers are back into the leadership group with vengeance.
Australia, India, Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, New Zealand, Pakistan to name the leaders of men's hockey are all in with a chance. Belgium is certainly in the running, a small nation who have developed hockey with a well sporing of young people some years ago. Now they are world beaters.
The Black Sticks (New Zealand) have beaten Australia a number of times in recent experience and is a squad to watch very closely.
The Hockeyroos have shown they are right up there as well, but have huge rivals in Argentina, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Germany.
Once again, Olympic Hockey is right up there for the Kookaburras and the Hockeyroos.
Mark Tronson is an author of five hockey books and wrote hockey for The Australian for many years. He retains an avid interest in all thing hockey with his most illustrious article being from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics hockey tournament where he re-phrased "ice hockey" terms for the "field hockey" - an article that was syndicated around the world.
Mark Tronson's archive of articles can be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/mark-tronson.html