Gladstone young gun Annaliese Adamson has her sights set on Queensland hockey selection this year.

She is keen to keep improving her game, which was the motivation for her attending the weekend’s CQ Development Camp run by Astro’s Hockey, a business created by Rockhampton product and high-performance coach Neil Shearer.

More than 70 juniors took part in the two-day camp at Rockhampton’s Kalka Shades.

They got to work with Shearer, Australian under-21 players Morgan Mathison, Jonno Bretherton and Cade Banditt, and accomplished local coaches Aaron Harmsworth and Christine Woods from Rockhampton and Shannon Bobart from Gladstone.

Adamson, who plays with Sparks in Gladstone and was named the club’s most outstanding under-12 player last year, enjoyed every aspect of the camp.

“I really loved how there were so many experienced coaches and they were super encouraging and I learnt a lot of new skills,” she said.

“I wanted to concentrate on my hitting, and I definitely improved with that.

“I played for Capricornia last year, which is the highest I’ve been.

“My goal is to try and make Queensland and hopefully I’ll keep improving to make that goal more likely.”

Shearer said the camp was designed to upskill players, giving them a “head start” as they prepared for their club seasons and upcoming Queensland trials.

Born and bred in Rockhampton, Shearer was the Rockhampton Hockey Association development officer and the regional coaching director.

He moved to Ipswich in 2011 and launched his coaching business in 2015.

He said two essential ingredients for success were having good basic skills and to be coachable.

“You need the right attitude - listen to your coaches and take things on board - and practice using the right techniques,” he said.

“It’s nice to be back in Rocky. There are a lot of good young players here.”