Just six months out from the London 2012 Games, two of Australia’s most successful Olympic teams, the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos, are fine-tuning their preparations for another medal assault.

Thanks to an injection of additional funding and athlete support from the Australian Government, our men’s and women’s hockey squads are receiving the extra support they need in the lead-up to the London Games.

Hockey Australia was allocated an additional $180 000 through the Government’s Green and Gold project, which has allowed it to bring in extra strength and conditioning support and psychology services to benefit Australian squad members based in Perth with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).

Through the AIS, our Olympic-bound hockey players have also been supported with the redeployment of a full-time physiotherapist to Perth, the installation of a new training pitch similar to the surface on which they will play in London, and the updating of state-of-the-art athlete GPS tracking technology.

Athens Olympic gold medallists, the Kookaburras, reaffirmed their standing as the world’s best men’s side with their recent Champions Trophy win in New Zealand.

Our women’s side, the Hockeyroos, are three-time Olympic gold medallists but in recent years have slipped down the world rankings.

With new coach Adam Commens taking charge last year, followed by the introduction of a host of fresh faces to the squad, the Hockeyroos are on the improve ahead of the London Games.

Hockeyroos captain Madonna Blyth said the extra training and coaching support for the players is vital in the lead-up to the Olympics.

‘As hockey players we rely on support from the Government, from the AIS and a lot of grants. I think in particular in an Olympic year we do get a boost in that funding, and that really helps us focus just on hockey and not have to worry about things outside of hockey,’ Blyth said.

The Australian Government invests more than $170 million in high performance sport every year, including $90 million which is provided directly to national sporting organisations and athletes.

On top of that, the Government’s Green and Gold project is a $3.85 million dollar investment in a number of Olympic and Paralympic sports in the lead-up to London 2012.

As part of the Government’s $23 million extra funding in high performance funding to sport, hockey is receiving more than $1 million on top of its existing high performance funding of nearly $6 million per year.