Michaela 'Miki' Spano (born 8 April 1997) is an Australian
field hockey
Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...
player.
Spano was part of the Australian women's junior national team 'The Jillaroos' that won bronze at the 2016 Hockey Junior World Cup in Chile.
Personal life
Spano was born in
Adelaide, South Australia
Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...
, and made her junior international debut
2016 Junior Oceania Cup
The 2016 Junior Oceania Cup was a field hockey tournament held in Gold Coast, Australia. The tournament served as a qualifier for the 2016 Men's and Women's Junior Hockey World Cups.
Both the Australian men's and women's teams finished the t ...
. Spano currently lives in
Toorak Gardens, South Australia
Toorak Gardens is a leafy, mainly residential inner eastern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, located 2 km east of the Adelaide city centre.
This is one of South Australia’s most expensive suburbs. It is characterised by tree-lined st ...
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
at the
2016 Junior Oceania Cup
The 2016 Junior Oceania Cup was a field hockey tournament held in Gold Coast, Australia. The tournament served as a qualifier for the 2016 Men's and Women's Junior Hockey World Cups.
Both the Australian men's and women's teams finished the t ...
, playing in each of Australia's matches against
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
Santiago, Chile
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated Regions of Chile, region, t ...
.
Replacing an injured
Madi Ratcliffe
Madeleine Ruby Ratcliffe (born 17 October 1997) is a field hockey player from Australia, who plays as a forward.
Personal life
Ratcliffe was born and raised in Warrnambool, Victoria.
She was a scholarship holder at the Victorian Institute of ...
in the team, Spano was also a member of the bronze medal-winning Australia U21 team at the Junior World Cup, scoring 2 goals in the tournament.
In 2017, Spano represented the Australia U23 team in a tour of Europe, as well as the Australia Development Squad in a tour of Japan.
In August 2017, Spano was named to the national junior squad for the third time.
Spano again represented Australia in 2018. In November, she represented the Under 23 side in a tour of China. She will also represent the Jillaroos in a test series against the New Zealand Under 21 side in
Hastings, New Zealand
Hastings (; mi, Heretaunga) is an inland city of New Zealand and is one of the two major urban areas in Hawke's Bay, on the east coast of the North Island. The population of Hastings (including Flaxmere) is (as of with a further people in H ...
.
In December 2018, Spano was named in the Australian Development Squad for the 2019 calendar year.
Senior National Team
In March 2018, Spano was named in the
Hockeyroos
The Australia women's national field hockey team (nicknamed the Hockeyroos) are, as of January 2019, ranked third in the world. Having played their first game in 1914, and their first Olympic game in 1984, they are one of Australia's most succes ...
team to make her senior international debut in the Hockey Pro League.
Spano's official debut came on 16 March in the Pro League Match against
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
.
State Hockey
Spano plays state hockey for her home state,
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, at both junior and senior level. She has represented SA in the
SA Suns
The SA Suns (formerly Southern Suns - prior to 2015) are a women's field hockey team based in South Australia that competes in the Australian Hockey League (AHL).
The SA Suns won national championships in 1995 and 2011.
Current Team
The followi ...
on four occasions, most recently in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
.
Club Hockey
Spano plays her club hockey in
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...